VOL. 12 NO. 6 APRIL 2015 www.civilsocietyonline.com .com/civilsocietyonline `50

wwwiiillllll bbbaaannndddhhhaaannn bebebe a a a bbbaaannnkkk tttooo aaddmmiirree?? Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, aaadddmmmiiirrreee??? Bandhan’s founder-chairman

‘cities should from city to farm milk of kindness not forget Pages 8-9 Page 24 doon’s two sides spare the rod pedestrians’ Pages 12-13 Pages 25-26 Dr Robert Noland on making streets safer for people services near home rainforest hotel Pages 6-7 Pages 22-23 Pages 29-30

CONTENTS

READ U S. WE READ YO U. inclusive banking

hE RBI’s decision to give two new banking licences in a long while to IDFC and Bandhan Financial Services was interesting in that it Tchose to leave out for the time being several industrial houses which were in queue and lobbying hard. The intention hopefully is to inject new vigour and inclusiveness into the banking sector. The record of most Indian banks, private or public, is disappointing when it comes to innovation and outreach. New technologies are available, but the spirit is lacking. Social commitment comes more by way of window dressing instead of being at the core of operations. The result is that millions of Indians in need of banking cover story services are not served. Banks have no inclination to make the extra effort to reach out to small borrowers — whether they are in cities or rural areas. bandhan, the bank To meet their social obligations they rely on microfinance institutions and other specialised lenders and deposit takers. This in itself should not be a bandhan has been a successful microfinance institution. what problem if it results in serving more people quickly. But it is worrisome that kind of bank will it be? will its strengths in reaching out to the banks remain focused on and use their resources to serve only those sec - poor and small borrowers give it a special edge? 18 tions of the economy that they can easily connect with. Bandhan and IDFC, it is hoped, will raise the bar for others and be banks COVER PHOTOGRAPH: PRAsANTA biswAs we can admire. We have been tracking Bandhan for a while as a successful MFI. So, we decided to find out how it was getting prepared to roll out its Organic cotton finds saviours ...... 10-11 banking operations. As you can imagine, these are plans one wouldn’t want to talk about. But Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Bandhan’s founder chairman, was as open as he could be. Bandhan’s edge will come from its many State clamps on tribal leaders ...... 11 strengths as an MFI. It knows how to work with people who have small incomes. It will be using information technology and employees who have Railways have a long way to go ...... 14-16 the training and orientation to have a unique national footprint across rural and urban areas. Chances are that a successful Bandhan bank will make a lasting difference. Smart Cane goes places ...... 23 Our opening interview is with Robert Noland, the transportation policy expert from the US. Noland represents evolved thinking on what works best in cities. he was in Delhi to deliver the Seventh TRIPP Lecture on No data on urban investment ...... 26 ‘Pedestrian safety versus traffic flow: finding the balance’. It was extremely topical considering how choked Delhi is by pollution and the mess that has been caused by too many cars on the streets. There are other problems too Walking a fine line ...... 27 such as deaths from speeding and drunk driving. The answers here will have to be found in cities where these problems have already been dealt with. There will be a need for better design and regulation. Discover craft with Good Earth ...... 30-31 We are also happy to report at some length on an organic agriculture con - ference in Chandigarh. What’s new, you might ask. Well, it is interesting that Punjab, known for its dependence on chemicals, is promoting organic agri - ‘Indian media is part of the story ’...... 32-33 culture. Chemical pesticides and fertilisers have taken a heavy toll of public health in the Punjab countryside. Cancer rates are known to be mounting. The conference is an indication of fresh thinking on agriculture. Earthy soaps & Rugged baskets ...... 34

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Rita Anand, owner of the title, from A 53 Publisher Layout & Design Advisory Board Umesh Anand Virender Chauhan D, First Floor, Panchsheel Vihar, Malviya Get your copy of Civil Society from Nagar, New Delhi -110017. AnupAm miShrA Cartoonist Delhi: bahri sons, Central Market, Galleria Market, Editor Printed at samrat Offset Pvt. Ltd., ArunA roy Rita Anand samita Rathor b-88, Okhla Phase ii, New Delhi - 110020. News Agency, stalls at Green Qutab Plaza, sector 14 nASSer munjee Park market, south Extn Part Market, sector 17 Market, Write to Civil Society at: Postal Registration No. ii, Aurobindo Market, R. K. sector 54, sector 44. News Network Arun mAirA D-26 basement, south DL(s)-01/3255/2015-17. Puram, Vasant Vihar, Vasant shree Padre Kolkata: Oxford bookstore, Extension Part 2, Registered to post without pre-payment DArShAn ShAnkAr Kunj, J.N.U., s.D.A. Market, Jehangir Rashid Classic books. New Delhi -110049. U(sE)-10/2015-17 at New Delhi PsO hArivAnSh saket, Kalkajee, C. R. Park, Rakesh Agrawal Registered with the Registrar of New Friends Colony, Lajpat Bengaluru: Variety on Ph: 011-46033825, juG SurAiyA st Mark’s Road. susheela Nair Newspapers of india under Nagar, Defence Colony, Hauz 9811787772 RNi No.: DELENG/2003/11607 upenDrA kAul Khas, Moti bagh, sector 62 Lucknow: Ram Advani Noida. bookseller at Hazratganj. Photography Printed and published by Total no of pages: 36 vir ChoprA Ajit Krishna Umesh Anand on behalf of www.civilsocietyonline.com Gurgaon: DLF Phase 1 Chandigarh: The browser.

vOICES

children from traditional schools and IN THE LIGHT SAMITA RATHOR educating them at home. I think schooling children at home is a full-time job for parents if they want their children to grow up in a particular way. This voluntary and child-centric education demands courage, conviction and determined devotion especially in the face of tra - ditional social mindsets. Perhaps some feedback from par - ents in the West, where homeschool - ing has been in practice for a while, would help Indian parents. HC Pandey forest saga Kanchi Kohli’s article, ‘Resist and persist’ was beautifully written. It reminded me of a song in Tamil which means that even when a huge boulder is blocking the path of a tree, it knows where to send its roots. We shall not tire. We need to spread our roots so we can weaken and break these boulders one day. triumph resulted in bickering and first steps’ was an informative article Raji mudslinging. The disclosure of an that gave us an inside view of the ini - letters audiotape of Arvind Kejriwal that led tial meetings of the new institution. It Thanks very much for publishing to Anjali Damania’s resignation from has begun well albeit with the usual Kanchi Kohli’s article. I salute the the party has made it clear that AAP hiccups. We hope states will do better people who are struggling for the is like any other political party. with more money, expertise, strict community and their forests. Suresh Thapaliyal monitoring and deadlines. The new Manoj Sakte body should be a hub for the best Let’s give AAP a chance. Infighting workable ideas. india’s daughter happens in every political party. Both Asha Sachdev Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia I read Ajit Krishna’s photo-essay on are practical and hardworking peo - An excellent article highlighting the the screening of ‘India’s Daughter’ in ple. You need idealism but you need role and responsibilities of the new the slum where the rapists used to to be realistic to be able to implement organisation replacing the Planning live. Banning this documentary in your ideas. Politics is about converg - Commission. Thanks very much. India would cause more uproar than ing many interests and that means Dadala Kumar telecasting it. If the world gets to compromising to find the best solu - know the real face of our nation, it tions acceptable to all. The party home schooling would have bad consequences for a should stand firmly behind them. short span, but in the long run, it aap Shikha Varma I read Ravleen Kaur’s article, ‘When might help make our country a better Your story, ‘Is AAP the future?’ cov - home is school and class is fun’ with place for women. Anshika ered some good points yet a lot niti aayog interest. I must congratulate all the remained unsaid. parents of homeschoolers for taking Letters should be sent to AAP created history. Well done, Rajiv Kumar’s article, ‘Niti Aayog’s this brave decision of removing their [email protected] but this needs to be looked at from a historical perspective and against the experiences of other democracies S ubScribe N ow ! that have witnessed dramatic political change. becAuSe eVerYoNe iS SoMeoNe AAP leaders have no administrative READ U S. WE READ YO U. Name: ...... experience. Their total asset is the aspi - rations of the youth that they have suc - Address: ...... cessfully ignited. The new party should 1 year ` 600 ...... study what has worked in other democracies and examine what may ...... suit us with some adaptations. Delhi is 2 years ` 950 State:...... Pincode: ...... bound to show the way to other states, Phone: ...... Mobile: ...... if AAP succeeds. I hope they do. HC Pandey 3 years ` 1,300 E-mail: ......

AAP is not the future.The party’s Cheque to: Content ServiCeS and PubliShing Pvt. ltd. infighting has dashed our hopes.It mail to: The publisher, Civil Society, D-26, Basement, South extension - 2, new Delhi - 110049. has failed to pave a different path, a phone: 011-46033825, 9811787772 e-mail to: [email protected] visit us at www.civilsocietyonline.com different roadmap. The post-Delhi

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 5 NEWS ‘the focus on cars damages the vitality of cities’ AJiT KRisHNA

robert noland: ‘We need pedestrian spaces where one can be distracted and safe’

research is cited in debates around the world. ture around drunk driving. At one time it was seen interview Noland was in Delhi to deliver the Seventh Annual as a minor transgression, something people did, TRIPP Lecture on ‘Pedestrian safety versus traffic and if caught penalties were relatively minor. Robert D. Noland flow: finding the balance’. Now it is seen as something that is socially unac - ceptable. This was partially achieved by public rela - How have pedestrian deaths been reduced drasti - tion campaigns and education about the conse - ORE than 130,000 people die in road cally in the motorised developed world? quences. Also, there has been much stricter accidents in India every year — the high - We’ve scared pedestrians away and stuck them in enforcement of laws and larger penalties associated Mest in the world. Speeding, drunk driving cars. This may sound facetious, but it is one of the with drunk driving implemented over the last 30 and not using helmets and seat belts are some of the main reasons that pedestrian deaths have decreased years. Many European countries have much lower immediate reasons identified for these deaths. But in developed countries. We know that cities have blood alcohol concentration limits than the United as the number of deaths keeps rising, there is a need more pedestrian deaths as a fraction of all States (where it varies by state). to look more closely at road design to save lives. motorised vehicle deaths, but that is because there While there has been significant success with how do we make our cities safer for pedestrians and are more pedestrians in cities and that is where they reducing drunk driving, a growing problem is cyclists? how do we plan our highways better? interact with motor vehicles. We don’t want to get mobile phone use while driving, especially texting What is it that we can learn from the rest of the rid of pedestrians as a way to protect them. I think while driving. Again, one needs a similar approach world? that you can look at many cities in Europe, where of making this socially unacceptable and increasing We spoke to Robert D. Noland on how trans - urban policies to reclaim street-space and increase both enforcement and penalties associated with portation planning and road design have been pedestrians have reduced pedestrian deaths. this. evolving and what India can do to adopt best prac - Technologies that block mobile phone use inside tices from countries like the US. Drunk driving is one huge challenge in India. the vehicle can also help, but the industry opposes Noland is a professor at the Edward J. Bloustein What should we be doing? it, which is a problem. This is a growing problem School of Public Policy and Planning at Rutgers in Drunk driving remains a challenge in many coun - throughout the world and many countries are only New Jersey. he has studied how transportation pol - tries, but there has also been remarkable success in now starting to take it seriously. icy and planning impact the built environment, reducing drunk driving in the last 30 years. What Some pedestrians are also being implicated in health, safety and the quality of life in general. his has been particularly successful is to change the cul - “distracted walking”, while using mobile phones.

6 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 NEWS ‘the focus on cars damages the vitality of cities’

They are being blamed for this behaviour. I would to set speed limits. concept of Level of Service (LOS) is focused only on argue that pedestrians should be able to be distract - Instead, the road should have been designed such improving traffic flow and has become the only per - ed while walking. that a reasonable speed limit for an urban area was formance metric used by many transport engineers This very much harks back to the early years of set, no more than 30 mph (48 kmph). This is the and planners — rather than considering other soci - motorisation in the US, when the car industry type of backward thinking that permeates decision- etal objectives, such as improved safety or pedestri - blamed pedestrians and children for their own making, even for a project that the Federal highway an accessibility. I just learned that an “Indian hCM” deaths. We need pedestrian spaces where one can Administration continues to showcase as a success - is under development. hopefully, this will take a be distracted and safe. ful context-sensitive design project! The only con - broader view of these issues and not replicate the text was that the road isa bit prettier than other flaws of existing guidelines. How important is design in making roads safer options. Ultimately, the speed limit was set to range for people? What has worked and where? Among between 40 and 55 mph (65 to 90 kmph). What should be the process for drafting an HCM? innovations, which are the ones not working? Doesn’t it need to be a social and consultative Reducing vehicle speeds is probably the most effec - process? In India we need more roads and high - tive way to make streets safer for people. There are ‘While there has been ways, but these seem to be coming up without many ways to do this. Traffic calming, mainly on consultation on a vision. residential streets, has been very effective. Road significant success with There are several parts to this question. First, what diets, which reduce the capacity of streets and real - reducing drunk driving, a is the process for developing the hCM or what locate space to cyclists and pedestrians, have also should be the process for developing it. While I am been effective. Shared space concepts are making growing problem is not familiar with how the Indian hCM is being city streets more attractive for pedestrians, and mobile phone use while developed, in the US the hCM is periodically without high-speed vehicles it makes them safer. updated under the auspices of the Transportation I’m not sure which are not working, but one thing driving, especially Research Board (TRB). In general, when an update that urban planners and designers must consider is texting while driving.’ occurs, panels of “experts” are formed to develop a that the details of these treatments matter. For request for proposals that is open to consultants and example, consideration of how safe crossing areas academics to bid on. The panel reviews and selects for pedestrians are designed, placement of bus stops How should arterial roads be built in cities? which team will conduct the work. Different panels and access to those stops, reducing high-speed If you have to build them, they should be designed typically oversee different aspects (or chapters) of turning radii for vehicles, amongst other details. to not carry high-speed traffic. Speed limits of 40 the hCM. This reminds me of a specific project in New kmph can work fine, with signals timed for that The TRB attempts to seed the panels with a vari - Brunswick, New Jersey, where Rutgers is located. speed limit, and no more than two lanes in each ety of viewpoints, but also needs subject matter This was the rebuilding of State Route 18, which direction, separated by a median barrier. They experts. So, while this might be partially a “social goes along the Raritan river down to US Route 1 should have good, wide sidewalks, buffered with and consultative” process, it is largely driven by the and the New Jersey Turnpike (both major roads). on-street parking, perhaps trees to provide shade. team doing the work with some guidance from the The Federal highway Administration (FhWA) has Crossing points for pedestrians should be frequent panel. The panels are volunteers and many will not a programme known as “Context Sensitive and well-marked. Bus stops should also be pleasant be able to devote sufficient time to reviewing and Solutions”, which is aimed at developing projects and protected places for customers to wait. There commenting on the products produced. that consider the context of the communities in are cases where these can work with one-lane in Don’t forget, the hCM should be a technical doc - which they are located. In the project development each direction, but that depends upon the context. ument and it certainly has valid formulas and meth - process they engage the community and various ods for calculating traffic flow. What is more impor - other stakeholders on their vision of the project and You have talked of a road diet. What are the polit - tant is how the information generated by the hCM how it fits in their community. ical challenges in apportioning road space? is used or misused. The Route 18 project resulted in the use of more Politicians and the public often are concerned about Level of service (LOS) has been elevated to be the aesthetic visual design elements and facades along any increase in travel delay. One needs to commu - most important criterion and in many cases the the roadway — which is a major eight-lane arterial nicate the safety benefits more effectively, but there only criterion used to make decisions on adding at its widest point. Part of the discussions (although are also other benefits that may be harder to quan - capacity or redesigning roads. This is the problem. this happened before I arrived at Rutgers) was over tify, such as a better urban environment. Other performance metrics need to be in the mix, whether it should be designed as a surface boule - such as safety, pedestrian mobility, city vitality, all of vard, whether it should include a light-rail line, or There is an entrenched view among Indian plan - which may be hindered by a one-sided focus on whether it should be a completely controlled-access ners that wider and bigger roads and signal-free LOS or maintaining traffic flow. All these issues motorway. carriageways are good for cities. What would you need to be considered by the broader public when The ultimate decision was a blend of an arterial say to this? considering new or redesigned roads. with some controlled access, so it includes signal- This is a common viewpoint amongst many trans - controlled pedestrian crossings. The road also sep - port planners and engineers throughout the world. Do you think cities of the developing world have arates the town from the river and parkland that Indian planners need to look at the United States to to find their own unique solutions to traffic and borders the river. see the errors we made over the last 60 years and transportation? Two weeks after the road opened, a 15-year-old how some cities are trying to fix things. Probably every city in the world has unique issues child was killed while crossing at an intersection. One issue is that transport engineering guidance that they need to address and many will find their The community was outraged by this, especially documents (such as the highway Capacity Manual own solutions. But I think there are certain overarch - when it found that the speed limit had not yet been (hCM) and the Policy on Geometric Design) were ing ideas that can be broadly applied. I like to empha - set for the road. The state Department of applied to all roads. These guidelines might be sise that cities should not “forget the pedestrian”. A Transportation said the speed limit was to be based appropriate for intercity motorways and arterials, focus on personal motorised vehicle transportation, on the 85th percentile rule — that is, they were but create problems when applied to urban streets, as was practised for many years in North America measuring the speed of the traffic and would set the where there is a mix of other users, such as pedes - (and still is in many areas) is damaging to the vitality speed limit based on how fast 85 per cent of the traf - trians and cyclists. of cities. There are many solutions and examples fic was moving. This is the standard approach used The other issue is that the development of the throughout the world that would work in India. n

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 7 NEWS from city lights to farm s and forests Ravleen Kaur Chandigarh

EEPIKA Kundaji turned her back on a career in academics in her late twenties to Dbecome a farmer. Training to be a lecturer and researcher in archaeology, she gave up her PhD and a job offer in a university in 1993 in search of a new life. After 20 years of living and working on a farm and planting a forest, she does not feel that she ‘left’ or ‘sacrificed’ a career or comforts. A bunch of idealistic farmers like her attended the fifth National Organic Farmers’ Convention in Chandigarh from 28 February to 2 March. They were all people who had turned their backs on careers that most would die for — as software engi - neers, in academics, in the corporate world — to become farmers. Today, Kundaji conserves more than 90 varieties of traditionally grown rare vegetables that are virtu - ally extinct. In Pebble Garden, her small garden of 2,000 square metres, she has 20 varieties of brinjal and about seven varieties of lady’s fingers, including the unheard-of red, white and multi-coloured ones. At meetings of farmers and in village fairs, she sells these seeds in small packets for `5-20. In tribal areas, she sells them for `1. “I don’t want to preserve old seeds like museum pieces, as a sad reminder of some past glory. I want to bring back to farmers their status of being creators of diversity and agricul - tural brilliance,” she said. Ironically, she points out, what she does with so much passion is illegal. There are stringent restrictions on sale of seeds (anybody selling seeds in packaged form with information about the seed has to be a registered seed-seller). Weary of city life, Kundaji went to Auroville in Tamil Nadu in 1994. She struck up a friendship with Bernard Declercq, a Belgian at Auroville, and both raghava with his family at their farm in Davangere began the task of regenerating a severely eroded patch of land which did not even have a top soil layer. Two years ago, Navin “We decided to do everything on our own with two principles — no external inputs and no hired Pangti sold off everything help. We did not get any soil from outside. There is he owned in Gurgaon and no point in destroying another place to heal this land and we did not hire a single worker, not even a went to Haldwani in farmhand. I still work four to six hours in the gar - den every day and do non-farming work too like Uttarakhand. It took him repairing broken pipes, cleaning the soakpit myself, two years to find a six-acre chasing away the neighbours’ pigs, apart from cook - ing, cleaning, holding workshops, receiving visitors, plot in Almora that he etc,” said Kundaji. wanted to buy. He is She even constructed her brick house with a sin - gle mason and helper. She says farming helped her striving to restore water discover that she is by nature a worker and not a and regenerate the land. supervisor. “I find it much more fulfilling to experi - navin pangti opted out of the nine-to-five drill ence the work myself. So much learning happens in the process and there is room for creativity if you taken care of by her family. There is a small income in farming it’s the process that counts, says Navin get into the work hands-on. Most farming in India from selling seeds, about `40,000 in a year but that Pangti, a mechanical engineer with a post-graduate is done by employed workers. This class divide is a is used for expenses in the field itself. Apart from degree in visual design from IIT Mumbai. Settled in pity, because we are integral human beings, with that, they receive voluntary donations at times. Gurgaon with his wife, Deepti, an Army Nursing body and mind functioning together and stimulat - “After all these years of working in a kind of finan - Officer, and two daughters, Pangti had no dearth of ing each other. I am grateful to Auroville for giving cial ‘vagueness’, I do not feel that we miss anything work or money. But he realised long ago that a nine- me this freedom and opportunity,” she said. or lack anything,” she says. to-five job was not for him. The land on which she and Declercq have set up Even while freelancing as a copy editor, creating Pebble Garden belongs to the Auroville community. for a calm life digital user interfaces and working on information her financial needs, a mere `5,000 a month, are For an urban professional, the end is the means. But architecture, he realised that the chaotic nature of

8 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 NEWS

there. The initial journey was tough. The land was covered with weeds and he had no knowledge of farming. Then he met Dr G. Nammalwar, the organic from city lights to farm s and forests farming scientist who has inspired many people to farming — no tilling, no external manure take up organic farming. The savings he had built and no irrigation. up over the years soon vanished and he considered “I always wanted to come back to the going back to a job. But his wife, Rekha, who was hills so I started an eco-tourism venture 12 working, supported him. years ago in Almora itself. But I found that Two years later, Rekha also quit her job and is the local people we were hiring left their now associated with an organic store in Chennai. farming completely. All they wanted was a Over a period of time, many changes crept into small job in the town. But doling out jobs their lifestyle. “Farming is about a change in mind - does not help anybody, people have to dis - set. In the city, we would think about buying a 50- cover their skills and create businesses inch screen LCD Tv, our son went to the supposed - around them,” he said. ly best school in town. And now, we haven’t While in Gurgaon, Pangti began home - switched on the Tv for possibly more than a year schooling his children as the mainstream and Sidharth studies at the local school with just six schooling system disappointed him. But kids for company,” says Parthasarthy. he found himself still keeping the compa - That is one problem he faces in Pandeshwaram. ny of people who could think only in “Everybody wants to send their kids to schools in material terms. town so there are no kids here that he can play with. “City life is a monoculture. You meet But he is generally busy fiddling with things and a and eat with the same sort of people and lot happier when he is here. In the city, he still needs look down upon a different set of people. an iPad to keep himself occupied.” In haldwani, my children met families who lived in one room and those who had for strong roots eight rooms but used only two. So they are Belonging to a farming family, Raghava’s parents developing some sort of community feel - wanted him to get a job and got him to do an MBA. ing now,” he says. “But I wanted to start a business venture. I would The couple’s parents opposed their read stories about new start-ups being set up every move to a village initially but Navin and now and then,” he recalls. Raghava completed the Deepti are trying to convince them to live MBA and then one day, when he attended a work - with them so that they can, in their last shop on organic farming, realised his calling lay in years, see the life they saw as children. To natural farming. earn a living, Pangti still takes up freelance his family had 21 acres where they grew coconut, parthasarathy vm: From software engineering to farming projects. paddy, fruits and so on but with chemical inputs. The idea is to have a self-reliant life, he Raghava decided to turn the entire patch organic. says, to produce one’s own food, water and The family opposed this. he had not taken up a job power and be technically independent. “I and now he wanted to change farming practices. call farming my pension plan. The best Then Raghava decided not to send his kids to financial planning will fail by the time one school. The family became positively alarmed. retires, thanks to inflation. But a live “In school, they teach them in Class 5 that genet - source of food will serve one till the end,” ically modified is the way to feed the world so how he points out sagely. can we expect them to inculcate quality education in our children?” he points out. his nine-year-old nature & nurture daughter, vishishta, had put up a stall in the organ - A software engineer with an MBA, ic convention along with her mother where she sold Parthasarthy vM left a highly paying organic seeds. Both she and her five-year-old broth - career selling banking software in 2012. er, varchas, are full-time farmhands at their farm in The trigger was a spurt in lifestyle diseases Davangere, Karnataka. among his family members in 2010, The entry into natural farming was not without including his one-and-a-half year old son’s its missteps. It normally takes three years to convert high fever and seizures. A week in the hos - coconut trees to organic. “But in 1999, three years pital with his son, Sidharth, exposed him after I began, I lost the entire crop. That made me to 60 children suffering from the same ill - realise how wrongly I had understood organic ness. farming. I attended many more seminars and went Googling the illness took him to a study to stay at other people’s farms to learn more. I got a by the World health Organisation that good crop only after another three years.” navin pangti opted out of the nine-to-five drill Deepika kundaji propagating indigenous seeds found DDT, a banned pesticide, in moth - Natural farming also made him take up natur - er’s milk. “So I started buying organic food opathy for small illnesses that occured in the fami - city life affects the psyche. Deepti, meanwhile, wea - at a premium. I even contacted farmers to sell me ly. “For instance, with the help of some exercises, I ried of allopathic methods of healing and took to their produce directly but they would not hear of was able to get rid of my glasses which I had been studying alternative medicine. not using chemical inputs. Monocrotophos, a pesti - wearing for many years,” he says. Two years ago, he sold off everything he owned in cide banned for use on vegetables, is widely used all Today, a lot of people visit Raghava’s farm to learn Gurgaon and went to haldwani in Uttarakhand. It over the state. Over a few months, I lost complete about organic farming. he has a diverse crop of veg - took him two years to find a six-acre plot of land in faith in the food I was eating and quit my job to etables, tubers, medicinal and aromatic plants, Almora that he wanted to buy. he hasn’t begun grow food myself,” he said. ornamental plants, fruit trees and those used only farming yet. he is striving to restore water sources Fortunately, he had some land in Pandeshwaram for timber, besides coconut and paddy which take and regenerate the land which had been lying waste near Chennai which was under chemical-based care of the entire financial needs of his family. And for a while. The couple has opted to practise natural agriculture. he began growing green vegetables they are a family that loves to travel. n

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 9 NEWS organic cotton finds saviours

Ravleen Kaur Chandigarh

T feels wonderful to wear an organic cotton kurta from Fab India, partly for the feel of wear - Iing something ‘pure’ and subconsciously for doing one’s bit for organic agriculture. Never mind the price tag. The fad for organic cotton is growing by the day but where does it come from? At a time when genetically modified Bt cotton has overtaken cotton farming in India, an organic cot - ton kurta in one’s wardrobe feels exclusive. But pro - ducing organic cotton has become an onerous task for the farmer. The root of the problem is the seed. It has virtually disappeared. Samat Bhai and Gauri Behn Gadda, a farming couple from Gujarat’s Surendranagar district, have silently taken up the challenge to address this prob - lem. Surrounded by Bt cotton farms on all sides, they are producing organic cotton seeds on a one- acre farm. For the first time, they sold some seeds from their first batch of produce at the National Organic Farmers’ Convention in Chandigarh in February. And the response was overwhelming. As soon as it was announced that the couple had organic cotton seeds, farmers from haryana and Punjab flooded their stall. “It is so difficult to find non-Bt seeds nowa - days. The only problem is finding these seeds again next season,” said a farmer from Mansa, Punjab. “Surendranagar has a very good cotton crop. But since the advent of Bt cotton in 2002, our tradition - al seeds just got lost. I realised we will never be able to do organic cotton farming if we don’t save the seeds. That is how this experiment began,” explained Samat Bhai while selling his seeds in small bags made of organic cotton. A week after attending the Convention, they were both recog - nised by the President of India for their effort in developing two organic non-Bt cotton hybrid seeds named Lok Jatan I and II after the non-profit that supported them. After 2009, the production of organic cotton in

India has steadily declined from being more than Samat Bhai and Gauri Behn Gadda at the organic Farmers’ Convention in Chandigarh eight lakh metric tonnes in 2009-10 to about one lakh tonne in 2011-12, according to the latest data As soon as it was announced that the couple had available on the agriculture ministry’s National Centre for Organic Farming. India also lost its posi - organic cotton seeds, farmers from Haryana and tion as the biggest exporter of organic cotton to Turkey in recent years. The main reason behind this Punjab flooded their stall. ‘It is so difficult to find non- is the unavailability of organic cotton seeds, a Bt seeds nowadays. The only problem is finding these mandatory requirement for cotton to be certified organic. In a scenario where Bt cotton covers 99 per seeds again next season,’ said a farmer from Mansa. cent of cotton-growing area and organic a mere 0.6 per cent, chances of organic cotton seeds getting then cross them. Every year, some contamination cent non-Bt seeds and there is a mandatory require - contaminated with Bt are very high, dissuading pri - would occur and the samples we sent to the labs ment to sow them as well so that bollworms, the vate seed breeders from producing organic seeds. would be rendered useless. Only this year, we got pests attacking Bt cotton, do not develop resistance This is a challenge Samat Bhai faces on a daily seeds that we can claim are completely organic,” he to GM seeds. But farmers usually throw these seeds basis. “I began by looking for varieties of good male said, acknowledging the help he got from Jatan away. Some of them gave their non-Bt seeds to and female plants to come up with a hybrid seed Trust, a vadodara-based non-profit working on Samat Bhai for his experiment,” said Kapil Shah, that could give a good crop. I went to Dharwad in organic farming that helped him in getting seeds who runs Jatan Trust. Maharashtra where some farmers had prepared from other state agricultural universities and con - To avoid contamination, various precautions like organic seeds, and also took seeds from agricultur - ducting lab tests. an isolation zone of 500 metres from other fields al universities and scientific institutions. It took me Even farmers growing Bt cotton helped indirect - has to be maintained. For Samat Bhai, whose field is seven years to first find the suitable varieties and ly. “Every packet of Bt cotton seeds contains 20 per surrounded by Bt cotton on three sides, this was a

10 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 NEWS

PiCTUREs by RAVLEEN KAUR Activists working on forest rights issues fume that companies are given land cheap and so is the real estate sector. But local forest people are state deprived. Sand mining is another bane. Romel Sutaria of the Adivasi Kisan Morcha has several criminal cases lodged against him for fighting the sand min - clamps ing mafia in the Orsang river of Chhota Udepur dis - trict. Tribals and people all over the state are protesting against the sand mafia. They do not allow local people to cultivate watermelons and other on tribal fruits and vegetables on the riverbank. Apparently, Sutaria and his group have been rounded up sever - al times. “The forest department has charge sheeted him and declared him an ‘absconder’,” said Trupti. leaders Mining and quarrying of black stone, dolomite, limestone, lignite and other minerals has become a major source of income and is the reason for large Tanushree Gangopadhyay scale poaching of forest land. Activists allege that Ahmedabad mining companies manage to sneak in and mine these minerals by paying paltry sums to poorer RIBAL leader Jairam Gamit finally walked people living there. free from Rajkot jail after the Gujarat high “We are picked up randomly from our villages for TCourt quashed the case against him by the stealing wood from forests and locked up for minor state government under the draconian PASA reasons,” said the women here. They allege their (Prevention of Anti Social Activities) Act. men are picked up too. however, many people from Samat Bhai’s bag of organic cotton seeds Surprisingly, 37-year-old Gamit, elected as an Chhota Udepur migrate in large numbers to work real challenge. “We put bags over flowers of the des - independent to the Songadh taluka panchayat from ignated female plants to avoid undesirable pollina - Chimer, was branded by the state as a “dangerous Lack of education and tion,” he says. Once the parent plants were ready, person who has organised and incited people to work on restricted pollination began. “Samples steal teakwood from the reserved forest and culti - health facilities are a were sent to a premier cotton research institute. But vate land.” matter of grave concern every year, there would be some contamination. “Three of the six offences lodged against Gamit Only this year, we were able to produce pure seeds. from 2008 to 2015 did not have FIRs. Besides, the in tribal regions. Children Testing happened at the level of leaves, plants, and Sessions Court had granted him anticipatory bail in each and every seed,” said Shah. The reward was the January”, explained hiren Modi, his advocate. used to swim across the 50-kg sack of seeds which Samat Bhai brought to Gamit’s release is being seen here as a major vic - river to attend school in Chandigarh. tory for the tribal and forest rights movement. The couple has decided not to brand the seeds “We have been vindicated,” beamed Gamit, after Chhota Udepur district as and sell commercially but only to a known network being discharged. “Ours is a struggle for survival in there was no bridge. of farmers interested in organic cotton farming at a this remote tribal district. A vast majority of tribals minimal price with the purpose of creating a seed in Songadh were displaced by the Ukai dam on the in the agricultural fields of Saurashtra, in Surat’s dia - base for organic farmers. “The lack of seeds is Tapti river 60 years ago and they have still not been mond industry or as coolies on construction sites. something we suffered from when we decided to rehabilitated.” Lack of education and health facilities are a mat - stick to organic farming. We even shifted out of cot - On 31 January Gamit was picked up mysterious - ter of grave concern in tribal regions here. Schools ton for a while because there was no organic seed ly from his office in Songadh district and sent to are a misnomer in most villages. Children used to available. But living in a region known for growing Rajkot jail. “I was not served any notice and I was swim across the river to attend school in Chhota cotton, we couldn’t see desi cotton getting lost like only informed of the reasons for my arrest when I Udepur district as there was no bridge. Fortunately, this,” says Gauri Ben. According to the Seeds Act, to reached the police station in vyara, the district it has come up recently, after the media wrote about sell seeds commercially as a brand in sealed pack - headquarters,” he said. it. There are no teachers even if the school has a ets, one needs to be a registered seed producer, a Gamit alleged that the forest department was ter - building. Doctors rarely visit Primary health procedure which the couple wants to stay away rorising tribals, filing cases against them and refus - Centres or Community health Centres. Neither are from. ing to entertain their claims to land under the trips by the AShAs regular. People here are com - According to Shah, the certification process for Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006. pelled to spend the paltry sums they earn to go to organic cotton is difficult and expensive. This has “Nearly 1.80 lakh claims were accepted by the towns and cities even for minor ailments. also led to certification agencies in India circum - state in 2008 but the forest department spurns The district collector of Chhota Udepur had venting the process. “Two of them were recently them,” said Gamit. “After doing ‘illegal’ cultivation sought a month for resolving the Adivasi Kisan fined by the Agricultural Produce and Export for nearly a decade, close to 80 per cent of our peo - Morcha’s charter of demands on education and Development Agency for certifying Bt cotton as ple have stopped migrating for livelihoods. health issues submitted in November last year by organic. “Given the contamination, I am even Otherwise they were compelled to migrate for eight Sutaria. “We started an agitation in January this doubtful of the organic cotton clothes being sold in months a year to work in the sugarcane fields of year as our demands could not be met. Thirty-six of the market,” he said. Bardoli and other places.” us were arrested,” said Sutaria. When Chief The organic cotton produced at Samat Bhai’s Trupti from Action Research in Community Minister Anandiben Patel came to attend the Krishi farm, however, is already being used to make health and Development, an NGO working in the Mela in Bodeli on 20 December, Sutaria along with organic clothes but via an unorganised trust-based forest areas of Gujarat, corroborated Gamit’s others, was detained the previous day. network. “Cotton farmers, like those around Samat claims. She said community forests were coming up In February, Sutaria and his group sat on dharna. Bhai’s fields, are scared to give up Bt cotton because in Songadh and these have helped people’s liveli - he says the district collector rounded up several they don’t have an assured seed supply and an hoods. Such management of forests by the people youth under the Bombay Police Act. “We were assured market. So we plan to launch a campaign could help poverty decline and the forests to flour - branded as terrorists and Naxalites, though we had throughout Gujarat to promote these seeds and also ish. For this, implementation of the FRA was essen - permission for our dharna. The district collector market their produce,” says Shah. n tial, she said. called us a parallel movement,” alleges Sutaria. n

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 11 NEWS dehradun has the best and worst schools

Rakesh Agrawal Dehradun

INCE the British Raj, Dehradun has been a bastion of quality school education. The city is Spopulated by a string of elite public schools. The most famous are Doon School, founded in 1927 and Welham Girls School, established in 1957. Liberal and well-off parents aspire to send their sons to Doon and their daughters to Welham’s. There are many more schools with an excellent reputation like Ann Mary, Saint Joseph Academy, Asian School, St. Jude’s and St. Thomas. The stu - dents of Dehradun’s famed schools form the cream of Indian society. They become politicians, journal - ists, filmmakers, social activists, writers, industrial - ists and so on. In stark contrast, government schools in Dehradun have remained in a pathetic condition since time immemorial. According to Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, around 10 per cent of students in government liberal and well-off parents aspire to send their children to Doon School The midday meal is seen as a burden by teachers though it does attract some children schools from Class I to Class 8 could not even read the alphabet. Around 84 per cent of students in ‘Children of very poor and Class 8 could just about read Class 2-level text. In English comprehension and arithmetic, the situa - marginalised people like tion was even worse. daily wage earners, Little wonder that parents with low income, even in rural areas, somehow raise the money to admit vegetable vendors and their children to private English-medium schools. domestic workers attend More boys than girls have been admitted to such schools, according to ASER figures, and the gender government schools.’ gap increases in the higher classes. So who goes to government schools? “Children of society where the elite send their children to expen - very poor and marginalised people like daily wage sive, private schools so that when they grow up they earners, vegetable vendors and domestic workers can be part of the same class. The government attend government schools,” says PN Dobhal, schools are victims of this disparity. The teachers headmaster, Government high School, Chamasari, get fat salaries. But their students are from very Dehradun. poor and destitute families. The parents have no The principal of a government school says, on say,” says NNP Pande, former Director, Education. condition of anonymity: “Children come because of “The dual system of education sows the seeds of the midday meal. In many cases, even that does not class and caste-based discrimination from a very lure them. There is a lot of absenteeism.” young age. It is the root cause of the pathetic condi - The midday meal might be an attraction for chil - tion of government schools not only in Dehradun, Govt schools lack infrastructure and teachers dren but teachers find it a burden. “Government but in entire Uttarakhand. We demand that a uniform elite schools hardly ever talk to each other. In fact, teachers are given many non-teaching responsibili - system of education be implemented in the entire government schoolteachers privately say those ties that affect their teaching. The midday meal is a state,” says Kamala Pant, convener, Uttarakhand working in elite schools are snobbish and make big culprit,” says Geeta Nautiyal, Principal, District Mahila Manch, a network of women activists. them feel small. Education and Training Institute (DIET), a govern - But the award-winning teacher, Jagdamba Prasad “Well, we lay the foundation of a rewarding life ment institute that provides quality teachers’ train - Dobhal, who is a senior mathematics teacher at the for our students. We have a teacher-student ratio of ing in Dehradun. Government Inter College in Dudhali, Dehradun, 1:10. In government schools, one teacher has to In fact, 13,000 posts of teachers in primary and has a different take. “I find no problem in govern - teach 100 students. They perform many non-teach - secondary schools of Uttarakhand lie vacant. Many ment policy. The problem lies in its implementation. ing jobs too. Just imagine the quality of education schools function with just one or two teachers who Most teachers are just interested in their salaries, there,” sniffed a lady science teacher from Welham’s. teach 50 or 100 students. The midday meal scheme perks, increments and leave. They get fat salaries, but Indeed, Uttarakhand has 1,689 single-teacher pri - along with non-teaching jobs like preparing elec - behave as if they are doing a routine job.” mary schools in its 13 districts. In Dehradun, such toral rolls, election duties, motivating out-of-school A section of educationists blames the education schools don’t exist on paper. But since teachers are children to enroll, and filling population slips is a bureaucracy. They say that many good government frequently absent, some primary schools become big burden on teachers, affecting their primary task schoolteachers are just left to languish. But those single-teacher schools in reality. and responsibility. who cosy up to the bureaucracy move up the ladder. When this correspondent visited the government The problem, say educationists, is that there is a “Government policy is also responsible as it primary school on Rajpur Road, for instance, only dual system of education in Dehradun. That’s why allows so-called public, English-medium schools to one of three teachers, including the principal, was government schools are languishing. function. These schools have proliferated in every present. In the upper primary school for girls at “School is the mirror of our society. The current nook and corner of the state,” says Nautiyal. Raiwala, students were busy cleaning and sweeping dual system reflects the disparity that exists in our Teachers in government schools and those in the the school building. By the time they settle down for

12 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 NEWS

ers move away from memory-based education to learning by doing. We carry out training pro - grammes and hold regular workshops to build the capacity of in-service teachers at our state and dis - dehradun has the best and worst schools trict office in Dehradun and district offices in Uttarkashi and Udhamsingh Nagar,” she adds. in 70 schools in Dehradun district in 2014-15. It APF and several NGOs also chip in to provide helped us understand the problems that teachers of education to children with special needs, a section maths and hindi face and what kind of activities they almost totally ignored by the government. AFP car - can perform to overcome them,” says Deena Rana, ries out regular workshops and seminars for them. programme coordinator, action research and lectur - Among NGOs, there is the Agnes Kunze Society’s er, DIET. She says the impact of this research was hope Project which runs four schools for children also visible. Students of 15 schools were able to iden - with special needs in different parts of the city. The tify letters, construct words, and read and write com - Bajaj Institute of Learning runs a full-fledged school mon words in hindi in Doiwala Block. Primary for visually and hearing impaired children on Rajpur schools in Ajabpur Kalan I & II reported that chil - Road. The Nanhi Duniya Movement, founded in dren began attending school regularly. 1946, runs five centres in Dehradun with one for In addition, DIET carried out research in 20 visually and hearing impaired children. Cheshire schools in Raipur Block in 2014-15 to improve teach - homes India runs classes in sign language, comput - ing methods and solve students’ problems after inter - er skills, English-speaking skills and soft skills. action with them and their parents. This has brought “We’re doing our bit but the problem is so huge about a noticeable change in the behaviour of sever - that our efforts are just a drop in the ocean. The al students. “One child used to fight with everyone government must take the primary responsibility,” and not attend school at all. But Deena motivated us says Daji. to carry out an action research programme. That Educationists say it is critical to improve the qual - changed things. There were students who stopped ity of education in government schools. Things fighting and began attending school regularly,” says have been allowed to languish for too long. “I would The midday meal is seen as a burden by teachers though it does attract some children Nikita Rawat, a teacher at the Khairimarkhum Grant say, abolish this dual system of education, of elite the day’s lessons, it is usually noon. Also, in many Primary School in Dehradun district. Similarly, schools and poor quality schools. Establish a com - primary and upper primary schools in the city, safe another student in Natthanpur Primary School who mon system. Make English the medium of instruc - drinking water and clean, usable toilets are conspic - would not speak at all, began speaking up and taking tion in all government schools,” says PN Dobhal. uously absent. an interest in his studies. “Force all government employees from the chief The government and other institutions are making The Azim Premji Foundation (APF), working secretary to peons to send their wards to government efforts to address the infrastructure gap and improve since 2004 in Uttarakhand on education, is helping schools. Neighbourhood schools are another option. the quality of education by training teachers. DIET is improve the quality of education in government They would have the infrastructure and students of the premier government institute for teachers’ train - schools. “It is important to address the problem at all classes and castes can go there,” says Pande. ing and it is carrying out its job seriously. the root and to prepare people who want to be teach - The irony is that even if a child from a poor fam - “We provide both pre-service and in-service ers by choice and not by chance. For this, we conduct ily gets through a government school, college is an training. Existing teachers are helped to improve annual surveys and document ideal teachers who uphill climb. Dehradun has just a few degree col - their teaching methods. We also extend on-site edu - could inspire others, interact with DIET and NGOs leges and professional institutes. Most of them are cational support, conduct surveys, develop educa - and enthuse people for the five-year integrated teach - mere teaching shops. The city’s best-known college, tion materials, do syllabus improvisation and carry ing graduation for social change that we offer instead the DAv College is known as a hub of petty poli - out regular monitoring and action research. All this of the two-year B.Ed programme,” says Dr Archana ticking where violence is a regular phenomenon. improves teaching methods. We help teachers tack - Bajpayee Daji of APF, Dehradun. There is a ray of hope, though. Doon University, le issues they find difficult to deal with,” says APF’s state and district institutes facilitate the now christened Uttarakhand Technical University, himani Bisht, Senior Lecturer, DIET. creation of a progressive educational environment established in January 2005, offers many job-orient - Action research is crucial to understand the gaps in the states. “Our focus is on quality education that ed graduate and post-graduate courses, especially in teachers face in primary and upper primary schools helps learning as envisaged in the National communication, environment and natural and how to fill them. “We carried out action research Curriculum Framework 2005. We try to help teach - resources, and management studies. n

SAmiTA’S WoRLD by SAmiTA rAThor

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 13 NEWS

AJiT KRisHNA being able to get its priorities right. It focuses on the need to sharply step up investment to raise capacity and improve safety, outlines logical ways of garner - ing the resources needed and readily admits that a more efficient and transparent way of doing things must go hand-in-hand with the new investment so that projects are completed on time and bring in the returns on the huge additional funds deployed. The Budget visualises an investment of `8.5 lakh crore — over eight times the one lakh crore size of the annual plan for the coming year (2015-16) — in the next five years. For this the railways will try to seek funding from every conceivable source, both domestic and multilateral (like the World Bank). It will seek partnerships with state governments, pub - lic sector companies (like Coal India for a line to a large coal reserve) and private sector firms for last- mile projects like access to a port. Projects totalling over one lakh crore rupees like the latter, which will bring in quick returns, will be sought to be funded with market borrowings. The Budget appears to have put the right foot for - ward by setting a higher target for operational effi - ciency by projecting an operating ratio of 88.5 per cent for 2015-16 which will not only be much better Green signal: Suresh prabhu (right) with meenakshi lekhi and Dr harsh vardhan than the 91.8 per cent likely to be achieved in the current year, 2014-15, but also be the best that has been achieved since the peak performance of a 75.4 per cent ratio achieved in 2007-08 under Lalu. (The railways have a operating ratio is the part of earnings that goes in meeting operating costs and the lower the figure the better, that is, there is a higher surplus available for investment.) Along with setting an ambitious but feasible tar - long way to go get, Prabhu has also sought to downplay hype. his BJP predecessor, Sadananda Gowda, in the NDA government’s first rail budget last year, spoke specif - ically of a bullet train service, the prime minister’s but Prabhu takes welcome first dream, between Ahmedabad and Mumbai for which one train itself will cost `60,000 crore and the entire project `9 lakh crore. steps for a turnaround In comparison, Prabhu has been distinctly low- key on the subject, saying in his Budget speech that Subir Roy The funny thing is, not only was Lalu not tech- a “quick” and “appropriate” decision would be taken Kolkata savvy, he relished projecting himself as a rustic son once the report of the feasibility study for the proj - of the soil who nevertheless knew his onions ect is available. hE 2015-16 Railway Budget speaks of using enough to leave most of the work in the hands of an As for the rest, the Budget has taken one right and Radio Frequency Identification Technology efficient civil servant brought in from outside. he one wrong decision. The right one is historic. This is T(RFID) to identify wagons which will tell us was able to work wonders by attacking the most the first Budget in living memory in which the rail - where a wagon is every time it passes a reader. On serious problem of the railways — inter-cadre rival - ways minister of the day has not announced at least a the other hand, if every wagon were given a GPS ry (traffic versus mechanical versus personnel and few new passenger trains. All know that passenger tag, we would know where it was at every moment. so on) — something that no insider by definition trains are loss-making and take away space from prof - Large truck transport fleets and many city taxis can. it-making freight trains. With virtually no rise in the nowadays are GPS-tracked. Not only are the railways still a national asset, an track network, it is suicidal to keep announcing new This is of a piece with the Indian Railways persist - efficient and fast-growing railways can act as a cat - passenger trains — a temptation to grandstand no ing with an outdated Canadian technology till the alyst by not just enabling the economy to grow railways minister had till now been able to resist. It 1990s, using fourth generation mainframes in its faster but also in a more environmentally sustain - would be a great trade-off if the number of passenger unending effort to computerise freight movement, a able way. trains did not increase but they ran on time a bit process that is still not completed in as much as you Prabhu’s Budget, in fact, raises a lot of hope by more. cannot say where exactly a wagon is at a particular The wrong decision is to raise freight rates by moment. The new railways minister, Suresh between 2 and 10 per cent for a range of commodi - Prabhu, may hold forth on how the railways are Suresh Prabhu’s Budget ties under the guise of rationalisation. The rates are using information technology to go places but there raises hope by getting its already high and as a result the railways have been is a long way to go. pricing themselves out of the logistics market, It is still hoped that the national carrier will see a priorities right. It focuses steadily losing market share to road transport. major turnaround under the leadership of Prabhu, on the need to sharply There is also little sense in raising rates when indus - reputed to be an efficient administrator. A turn - trial activity in the economy is sluggish. There can around is sorely needed after the years of decline step up investment to hardly be a manufacturing revival if logistical costs under Trinamool Congress and Congress ministers, raise capacity and keep going up even as demand is not. The justifica - to retrieve some of the glory the railways achieved tion for a rise is even less when oil prices are going under Lalu Prasad Yadav. improve safety. Continued on page 16

14 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015

NEWS

CHARKHA tered against them two days after the accident. CoNfLiCT zoNE They were quick to make written promises to take care of the medical expenses and get him a government job, even as they requested his family to withdraw the FIR. As the family feared, the department soon tangled turned a blind eye to his plight. “The Assistant Engineer wanted to get rid of the matter by offering us `30,000. Our family refused to take that money. We still have that note with us but in wire there is no one to take action against the department,” said Mohammad Deen, Nizam’s maternal uncle. The officials refused to com - Riyaz malik ment on the issue. Jammu This isn’t the first case. In 2011, 40-year-old Batcha died of electrocution when he ventured hE Delhi Assembly elections were from his agricultural land in Dangiwacha vil - fought and won entirely on develop - lage in Sopore, leaving behind a widow and two ment issues. Electricity, water, security sons to fight for his case. In 2009, 12-year-old T nizammuddin’s hand had to be amputated after he was electrocuted and roads topped the list. But in Jammu and Romesh Kumar and his maternal grandfather Kashmir (J&K), the focus of the elections was large - shock, villagers rushed to the spot and saved him died when they came in contact with an electric wire ly AFSPA and Article 370 that gives the state ‘special from electrocution. They took him to the district tied to a wooden pole. In 1996, Mohammad Bashir status’ under the Indian Constitution. The issues of hospital in Poonch where he was provided first-aid was electrocuted when he accidentally stepped on a the common man found absolutely no space. and then referred to the Government Medical broken live wire while walking towards the main Between politics and false promises, the expecta - College in Jammu where he was admitted for a road in village Chokian in Kotdhara. tions of people in Mandi tehsil, a remote village in while. When his condition did not improve, he was On 28 February, Sharifa Bano died in Reasi district Poonch district, fell flat as they listened to political referred to a private hospital in Ludhiana. After after coming in contact with a 33 Kv live wire lying statements by elected representatives of the newly days of treatment, his right arm was amputated in the fields in Bagga in Mahore. These cases reflect formed government. There were no references to below the elbow, leaving him handicapped for life. a pattern that, over the years, has seen no change, things that affect their daily lives. To make matters worse, a few days later, compli - especially in villages which become soft targets of During the eight-hour journey from Jammu town cations arose in his left arm too, leading to a net State apathy. to the historic town of Poonch nestled in the Pir expense of over `600,000 on “villagers saved my son’s life Panjal mountain range, a visitor witnesses not just his treatment — with no The local but he will now be forced to live a the beauty of nature in gurgling rivers and lush improvement so far. life of dependency. At this age, green forests, but also the indifference of both the “I have borrowed money authorities are when he was supposed to take care state and central governments that has pushed this from almost every household of us, we are looking after him and border district into being classified as one of the in my village. The doctors negligent and his family,” said Nizam’s father most backward regions of the state. have suggested further treat - callous. There who, at the age of 60, has returned People living in various villages in Poonch face a ment but my family has run to working in the fields. plethora of problems ranging from issues related to out of money to meet my are increasing The J&K Electricity Board should water, schools, roads and health facilities to electric - medical expenses. I spent my cases of villagers be taken to task for its negligence. ity. The local authorities are negligent and callous. entire life working hard to be There should be a thorough audit of Take electricity. There are increasing cases of vil - able to provide a good educa - being badly its operations so that live wires are lagers being electrocuted because of live wires left tion and a better life for my electrocuted not left lying around. Not only lying around by the J&K Electricity Board. son but due to the negligence should compensation be paid to the Thirty-three-year-old Nizammuddin was the of the electricity department, because of live victims of its callousness, there most recent victim of the apathy of the electricity our entire family will have to should be sensitivity towards vil - authorities. A farmer, Nizammuddin is from suffer now,” rued Mohammad wires left lying lagers whose voices hardly ever Saloniya panchayat of Mandi tehsil in Poonch. he haneef, his father. around by the reach the media. It is these voices was working in his field last month when he got Representatives of the elec - that can make the agenda of politi - entangled in electric wires that had broken loose tricity department visited him J&K Electricity cal parties truly pro-people. n from the pole. hearing him scream in pain and only when an FIR was regis - Board. Charkha Features

Continued from page 14 the resources under the rural employment guaran - by extending the optic fibre network that has down and the cost of diesel, on which most railway tee programme. The rules can be tweaked to take in already been extensively put in place by RailTel. locomotives hauling goods trains run, is following those with at least some primary education so that As a result, the driver and guard of every train suit. The need to garner revenue to show a better they can follow a safety drill. will also have a mobile phone with which they can performance is there, but it should not be fulfilled at This can be done by using the country’s mobile send an alert when an accident, not just at the level huge long-term cost! phone network. Let us say every level crossing has crossing, takes place. Right now it often takes time A good beginning is to be appreciated but there to have two mobile phones with two people. When not just for a message to be sent but also an emer - should be no illusion that there is still a long way to a train approaches, a message has to be sent to both gency rescue mission to arrive so that it is usually go for things to be even reasonably acceptable. The and confirmation that the gate has been shut has to the local villagers who are the first to help out when accident rate of the railways has to reduce much come from both. If this is not available then the there is a crash. There will of course be a cost but it more and the first area to address is one of the train driver is immediately asked to stop. This is not unbearable, particularly given the number of biggest and most senseless causes of casualties, means he also has to have a mobile phone. lives it will save each year. those that take place at level crossings. There is no But what do we do with the problem of there What the railways have so far done is launch a big reason why a combination of two resources already being no network in many remote areas? An ambi - programme to build overbridges and underpasses. available cannot do the job. One is to use the tious emergency technology project has to be taken That can go on but what has been outlined above is national employment guarantee programme to man up to fill the missing gaps in the network by a far cheaper solution that can be put in place in every level crossing with at least two people, using installing transmission towers along the rail line or months. n

16 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015

COvER will bandhan b e a bank to admire? Subir Roy Kolkata

hEN Bandhan Financial Services, the country’s leading micro - finance institution, secured an “in principle” banking licence last year, it made history. Most of the public speculation till then was whether, or if so which, leading business houses would get Wlicences. In taking the decision, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s banking regulator, was acknowledging that India’s big business and cities did not need yet another bank. What the country needed was to promote financial inclusion, take banking to the poor, mostly living in rural areas, who had been left out despite bank nationalisation over four decades ago. (The other gap, in infrastructure financing, was addressed by giving a similar licence to a financial firm engaged in lending to infrastructure ventures.) Once Bandhan, which was launched as an NGO in 2001 to lend to the rural poor and in 2009 became a non-banking finance company under RBI supervi - sion, secured the big prize, the focus of the financial sector shifted to seeing how it would successfully morph into a commercial bank. Existing commercial banks wanted to see Bandhan’s business model to find out how it planned to succeed where they had failed (only 40 per cent of the country’s population engages with banks) and perhaps adopt an idea or two. For this very reason, Bandhan has been guarded in revealing its strategy. It has time till October to fulfil the for - malities to start banking operations but the buzz is that it will be ready well before that. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, the founder-chairman and managing director of Bandhan, who is in his mid-fifties, made it clear from the beginning that the bank, with 600 branches, would be present in all the states and both rural and urban areas in the first year of operation, even if it be a token footfall in the south and a modest presence in the west and north of the country. Bandhan, which has high penetration in the east and Northeast as a microfinance institution, has set itself the task of building its banking business first in these areas. Despite being an organisation until now structured to serve the rural poor, in terms of physical presence it has decided not to ignore the central business dis - trict in large cities where property prices are sky-high. however, it has also taken the key decision to keep from lending to the corporate sector made up of giant companies whose bank borrowings go into hundreds of crores of rupees. So what will Bandhan’s branches in key commercial areas of large cities do? Ghosh explains that large companies do not exist in a vacuum. There are any number of micro and small businesses which operate around large commercial properties like street vendors, large and small shops, and service providers like Chandra Shekhar Ghosh: ‘our uSp will be our service.’ those who photocopy, print, bind and offer access to the Internet, and car hire intimidated by banks and their procedures; bank branches are often far away, businesses. There are also those firms which make up large companies’ supply requiring a daily wage earner to set aside a day for a visit. Plus, bank staff in rural chains and customer reach. All these will be in Bandhan’s focus. areas are mostly city-bred people who are marking time to be able to get back to Geographically, most of the non-rural presence will be in the extended sub - the urban areas where they belong and so are not very proactive in engaging urbs of metros and peri-urban areas of cities which are at the intersection of the with rural customers. urban and rural. Bandhan will address this situation in two ways. First, with the help of its tech - The key issue is that these areas are already well banked and established large nology partner, it will offer extremely simplified banking solutions that can banks are focusing a lot of their branch expansion on them as urban prosperity work through SMS — a technology that innocent users can handle with the help grows. Ghosh’s strategy for success is simple — offer a kind of service which will of the most basic mobile phones. “Technology will be one of our main weapons, be a differentiator. “Our USP will be our service,” he emphasises, adding, “this is using it innovatively to reach those not yet covered by banking,” asserts Ghosh. high on our agenda.” It will be premium service in urban and metro areas, and The human element will be its staff and those of its business correspondents total banking service along with traditional microfinance in rural areas. who will work like walking ATMs, armed with point of sale (POS) devices To enable this and make up the slack that has existed till now in its use of tech - through which people make card payments for their retail transactions. It will be nology, Bandhan has mapped a key role for its technology consultants, Fidelity doorstep banking on a scale and with a degree of dedicated attention not seen in Information Services (FIS), the global technology and payments solutions rural India till now. provider. All technology operations have been outsourced to it under the tech - Second, the human factor will step in with the Bandhan people hand-holding nology service provider model where fees are paid on a per transaction basis. FIS rural customers on the paperwork and formalities which is a major hurdle in will provide and manage a fully integrated banking and payments platform. their ability to walk in and do business at a regular bank branch. Only two groups of people have till now taken financial services to the doorsteps of the tech tools rural people. One is the representatives of ponzi schemes, and the other is the If in urban areas Bandhan has to fight competition to establish a presence, it is microfinance people. in the rural unbanked areas, its home turf, so to speak, where it will break new Bandhan’s staff or representatives will add regular banking to microfinance. ground as a bank. Commercial bank penetration has remained low because of a In doing this Bandhan will have some key advantages. In many areas, partic - variety of reasons. A not insignificant section of the rural poor is illiterate and ularly in the rural east and the Northeast, it has the first mover advantage. It has

18 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 COvER will bandhan b e a bank to admire? PiCTUREs by PRAsANTA biswAs ‘Technology will be one of our main weapons, using it innovatively to reach those not yet covered by banking,’ asserts Ghosh. The human element will be Bandhan’s staff and those of its business correspondents who will work like walking ATms, armed with

mostly been there before other financial service providers have come in. This point of sale (PoS) advantage will come in most handy in facing the competition from the payment and small banks which will be sanctioned by RBI and come in over time. The first mover advantage has already been able to establish the Bandhan brand on devices through which its home turf. This is why it does not plan to go out in a big way into the rural areas of the southern states which have already been somewhat saturated by well-established microfinance names. people make card having outsourced technology delivery to a well-established technology part - ner, Bandhan has done a bit more on its own — with the help of its human resources consultant, Aon hewitt, it has devised an hR strategy which will enable payments. it will be a cost-effective model to make money out of a largely poor rural clientele. The main reason why banks till now have not put their heart and soul into taking banking to the rural poor is the cost factor. In this Bandhan will take for - doorstep banking on a ward what it has already been doing. As a microfinance organisation it broke new ground by using the services of young people from rural and semi-urban areas who often lived in the back - scale and with a rooms of their offices and dealt with people who were like them. Training played a big part in this. It enabled Bandhan to be a low-cost leader among microfi - nance organisations. degree of dedicated It has now undertaken a massive exercise to train and upgrade the skills of the existing microfinance staff who, from the day the bank commences operation, attention not seen in will become bank staff. “Bandhan has shown and will keep showing how people with essentially non-city backgrounds can be trained to perform jobs requiring higher skills,” says Ghosh. First it was performing microfinance tasks, now bank - rural india till now.

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 19 COvER

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh and his team at their modern office in east kolkata Small borrowers meeting Ghosh at the grassroots ing tasks will be added. row in bulk from banks, then that will be a great plus for Bandhan. Bandhan has naturally recruited staff with regular banking skills for its urban however, it will now have a new obligation as a bank, having to maintain operations. There has also been an induction of individual consultants and sen - statutory liquidity reserves (mainly in the form of investment in approved gov - ior management to fill higher-level slots. For rural and semi-urban areas, a hub ernment securities which pay a low interest rate) and cash reserves (deposits and spoke structure has been devised. At the extreme end will be doorstep serv - with RBI which earn no interest). ice centres, then will come bank branches and at the apex will be a sort of clus - Currently the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) has to be maintained at 22 per ter formation manned by bankers to supervise the pyramid below. cent and the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at four per cent, that is, altogether `26 of At the lower level there will be mostly the existing microfinance staff. every `100 that a bank garners in deposits cannot be on-lent. This is an addi - Microfinance operations will continue from the existing offices of Bandhan and tional cost a bank has to bear in return for being able to accept deposits. So a the bank branches will offer both microfinance and banking services. In a way it bank’s profits have to come from the `74 that it can lend or invest. The more a will be just a change of nomenclature. What was earlier microfinance lending bank can use low-cost deposits (most banks pay 4 per cent on savings bank will become priority sector lending that every bank has to engage in. deposits and a maximum of 8 per cent on term deposits) to fund its lending, the how will the old and the new gel? Laterally recruited banking staff will natu - rally earn much more. Will this adversely impact the morale of the old staff? Ghosh does not see a problem here as nobody can take exception to “compensa - tion being linked to experience”. Aon hewitt has helped devise a “fitment” scheme which will amalgamate the compensation of the old staff in the new scheme of things. The mood within the organisation is distinctly upbeat. The existing staff sees new career opportunities opening up and is excited about being able to work in a bank. Along with the positive excitement there is also a bit of uncertainty over being able to measure up to the new skills demanded of them. The Bandhan workforce has always been highly motivated and disciplined and it remains so. Says one senior person in the organisation, “Right now it is all excitement. Any kind of them-versus-us feeling can crystallise only after a year or so, if at all.” capital boost The key difference between being a microfinance organisation and a bank is that the former gives small loans largely by borrowing in bulk from commercial banks. It cannot accept deposits, whereas a bank can. Bandhan’s ability to mop up rural savings, beginning with the savings of its borrowers, will hold the key to its long-term success. These savings have to a great extent remained untapped till now. Currently, a microfinance organisation borrows from banks at 10 per cent or more and lends at over 20 per cent. If rural savings can be accessed at an aver - age cost of, say, six per cent, reducing or eventually eliminating the need to bor - Bandhan has been giving loans for micro businesses

20 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 COvER

If Bandhan succeeds as a bank, it will send out multiple messages. One, let your savings be in a safe place like a bank. Two, don’t be greedy and fall for promises of very high returns because ultimately they will never come and you will lose your money. Three, there is no more need to take the trouble to go to a bank branch. Doorstep banking is here. Small borrowers meeting Ghosh at the grassroots more profitable it becomes. Against the cost that statutory reserves represent, additional capital, with `580 crore coming from IFC and the rest from new there will also be a saving. Now Bandhan has to maintain working balances with investors. It currently has a net worth (capital plus reserves) of `1,400 crore. banks to honour payment obligations. These balances which earn no returns will hereafter be with Bandhan Bank itself. brand building Bandhan has till now been a healthy profit-making microfinance organisation Bandhan is going in for an elaborate branding exercise for which O&M have (it ended 2012-13 with a loan book of just over `6,000 crore and net profit of been retained as consultants. The branding exercise will be two-fold. One will be `209 crore) but in view of the massive investments that it has made and will to tell the world, “Now we are a bank”. The other will be to create trust in the make to become a bank (real estate for a branch or administrative office in a institution. Bandhan is already a household name in rural and semi-urban West large city costs a huge amount), it will cease to make a profit for some time. This Bengal and its profile in urban areas has transformed ever since it won the bank - is fine for its investors like Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) ing licence. and the World Bank group investment firm, International Finance Corporation But, additionally, trust has to be built and bolstered for another reason. (IFC). In January, Bandhan announced its decision to secure `1,600 crore of Bandhan’s home base, the east and the Northeast, is currently being rocked by the slow unravelling of the Saradha ponzi scheme scam. Thousands of poor fam - ilies have lost their meagre savings, mainly for two reasons. One, they were taken in by promises of irrationally high returns. Two, Saradha agents, motivated by a huge commission, had moved door-to-door to collect savings. Commercial banks, manned by office babus, were nowhere in the picture. If Bandhan succeeds as a bank, it will send out multiple messages. One, let your savings be in a safe place like a bank. Two, don’t be greedy and fall for promises of very high returns because ultimately they will never come and you will lose your money. Three, there is no more need to take the trouble to go to a bank branch. “Doorstep banking will be what will make us different,” says Ghosh. When Cyclone Aila hit West Bengal and Bangladesh in 2009, it particularly devastated entire communities in the Sundarbans where the Ganga meets the sea. After the waters had receded, rescue workers from NGOs discovered a numbing phenomenon. The bodies of many dead men had currency notes wrapped in cloth around the waist. They obviously kept their savings in cash at home. Banking services were not available or mostly inaccessible on those islands. When the moment of reckoning came, they tied their savings on them - selves and hoped for the best. The significance of taking banking to the doorsteps of such people is immeasurable. For a long time, Indian microfinance enthusiasts bemoaned the fact that India did not have a Grameen Bank like Bangladesh. Soon India will. Grameen is not just a bank but an institution with many operations that in a small way has changed the face of rural Bangladesh and made a dent in its poverty. A success - Self-help groups have been the core of inclusion ful Bandhan Bank can create a similar little revolution in India. n

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 21 BUSINESS enTerpriSe CSr iCT Green TeCh near.in seems a far-out idea

Sanjay Singh New Delhi

N the higgledy-piggledy Indian city, how do you find services that you need most when you Ileast expect that you will need them? Where do you at short notice look for a plumber, electrician, yoga teacher, driver, interior designer, theme party manager, wedding photographer, physiotherapist, dietician, painter...? Chances are that you will ask people next door or check out Yellow Pages or hit a listing. You could be super lucky and get what you want at first shot, but experience shows that it is usually a long process. Near.in sees a business opportunity in easing this distressing trial and error. A young enterprise, launched in Gurgaon sometime in December, it has been attracting early-stage investment because of the growing demand for the validation of services in urban India. Unlike Yellow Pages and listings, Near.in takes the side of the user and is strict about the credentials of service providers — checking them out to the extent possible and then dumping them if the feedback is negative. A provider can’t just pay and be showcased on Near.in. The message is that the site wants to be user-driven and will sift the good providers from the sloppy ones. Akshay Khanna, Lomesh Dutta and Sunil Goyal are the founders of Near.in. The three share a strong entrepreneurial spirit. They are start-up types who have tasted success before and made some money. They are also all in their thirties, engineers by train - ing from Delhi, and have lived in the US. It is a lot to have in common and in the rough and tumble of start-ups the glue of old friendship can be a good thing. young enterprise: lomesh Dutta, Sunil Goyal and Akshay khanna The Near.in idea comes out of growing needs of how to find customers. The demand is there and already done. Providing a driver, plumber or elec - Indian cities and the changing perceptions of the suppliers have discoverability problems. So we trician with the required qualifications and creden - founders themselves as the years have passed. thought that if we are able to connect these two then tials is where Near.in hopes to make a difference Lomesh says, “We were back from the US and set - magic could happen,” explains Lomesh. and also raise the bar for such services. So, from tling down and from our own experience realised Prior to the founding of Near.in, Lomesh and Sunil category to category, criteria are laid out. that even doing simple things in life is a pain-point. co-founded Wirkle, a mobile application develop - Demand trends are already visible in Gurgaon. In We talked to people and it emerged that it is a pain- ment firm in 2006 and sold it to Location Labs USA the short span of time Near.in has been around, point for them too.” in 2011. Then came a few years of employment in the interest has been seen in categories like event plan - The question was whether this could be a viable US where Akshay was at the same time. ners, physiotherapists, yoga teachers and driving business proposition. Done the right way, with val - Getting identification of vendors right is impor - instructors. The demand is both from the user and ues in place, the opportunity could be as big as e- tant. For the time being, Near.in is focused on qual - the provider. commerce. “Just count the number of theme birth - ity and delivery rather than quantity. It is an online Near.in is also positioning itself to ride the grow - day parties being held in Gurgaon in a year,” says business but a lot of the action is offline. It is neces - ing trend of people seeking alternative careers to Lomesh. sary to collect information by word of mouth. A make their lives more satisfying. There are profes - In the past few months alone, 2,500 listed service social review system has been put in place. There is sionals giving up jobs to pursue their dreams. They providers have been identified across 130 cate - a team that does ground research and surveys of the need a platform like Near.in to connect. A CEO gories. Other hard numbers are not being revealed vendors before listing. Users rate vendors, who have who got in touch said he wanted to teach yoga in his as yet, but it is clearly a big idea. to stand the test of reviews. There are also nomina - spare time because it was his hobby. “The issue is not on the user side only. From the tors that Near.in uses. vendors often need help with writing up their vendor side of things, different professionals and Some of the verification is basic stuff like bios and profiles. They need advice on positioning home-based entrepreneurs are trying to reach out Aadhaar cards and driving licences. In certain cases themselves. While Near.in currently only takes a to users who respect quality. Take the example of where the vendor is well-known and has won percentage of successful transactions, it sees many the mom who bakes great cakes but doesn’t know awards and so on, the verification is considered opportunities for generating revenue by adding

22 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 BUSINESS

value to what vendors do. “The paying for listing model is not workable. If a vendor does not get work proportionate to the listing fee, then it will be of no use to him. There is no guarantee of work. The companies that are smart Cane goes places already working in the sector pass on the user requirement to their top listed vendors who are Rakesh Agrawal barriers. There are no ramps and footboards on paying for that. That vendor is not necessarily the Dehradun buses and trains are high. In buildings, often best in the category,” says Akshay. windows and air-conditioners jut into corridors. Thus Near.in is working with no obligation hE Smart Cane, a device to help the Real-life scenarios were studied and the inputs towards vendors, as they are not paying any sum for visually impaired move around more greatly helped design Smart Cane. freely, is catching on in cities across The first feature its developers included was AJiT KRisHNA T India through word of mouth and low-cost its easy grip. They had observed that visually marketing. It is becoming a Make in India suc - challenged people hold the white cane in a cess story — invented by IIT Delhi, manufac - number of ways. hence, a unique ergonomic tured by Phoenix Medical Systems in Chennai grip was evolved so that people could hold it and marketed by a network of NGOs and wel - whichever way they found comfortable. fare organisations. Smart Cane was also designed to enable visu - “The mobility needs of visually impaired ally challenged people to tap the cane close to persons are well addressed by Smart Cane. It their feet or extend it and tap it farther away costs just `3,000, inclusive of distribution and when they walk outdoors. training,” says Dipendra Manocha, Director, The device is detachable and never breaks Saksham Trust and President of the National even if it gets stuck in a cycle wheel spoke or Association of Blind in Delhi. gets bent if someone walks over it. It can with - Prof R. Balasubramaniam of IIT Delhi, under stand dust and temperature variations. Women whose supervision the project was started, says: “The device makes use of modern sensor tech - nology to detect obstructions up to a distance of three metres. It is compatible with the standard folding white cane and eliminates the need for physical contact with the cane to detect obsta - cles in the immediate environment.” Smart Cane was launched in April 2014. IIT Delhi, the Assistive Technology Group (ASSISTech), Saksham Trust and Phoenix Medical Systems came together to invent a state- of-the-art device. The total cost of inventing it was `3 crore, funded by the Wellcome Trust, UK. Extensive field trials with 150 users took place before the device was launched. “Blind people are surprised by overhanging branches, protruding air-conditioners and parked vehi - cles while navigating unfamiliar terrain. Smart Cane warns the user of such objects in their path through a unique system of vibratory pat - terns, designed to detect potential obstacles even at head height,” says Rohan Paul of ASSISTech. listing. The work is passed on to the vendor who can The device uses ultrasonic ranging to detect give the best services according to the requirement. obtrusions and generates varied vibratory pat - can fold it into their bags. From Gurgaon, Near.in plans to expand to Delhi terns, which tell its users the distance of the The device is affordable, with low-cost sen - and from there to another city like Bengaluru where impending objects so that they can negotiate sors and electronics and other materials that there are young professionals and disposable the obstacles from a safe distance. Smart Cane don’t cost much. Yet its quality is of interna - incomes. is a user-detachable unit and is powered by a tional standards. Near.in has raised `1.8 crore from investors like rechargeable battery. The National Institute of the visually Anupam Mittal of Shaadi.com, Prashant Tandon The product’s low cost remains its USP. “This handicapped in Dehradun provided field tri - and Gaurav Agarwal of healthkart.com and product is an example of India-centric research als. A network of over 16 welfare organisations Manish vij of adtech firm SvG Media. because of its affordability and societal needs. It for the visually challenged across 12 states is The founders are optimistic that the business has costs one-tenth the price of similar devices selling and marketing Smart Cane and training the potential to become as big as e-commerce. The available in Western countries,” says R.K. people how to use it. “ We conduct free demo services sector’s contribution to the economy is Shevgaonkar, Director, IIT Delhi. classes, giving detailed description about the increasing and is witnessing a big change in recent Smart Cane took birth in IIT Delhi as a stu - product, and we do a product demo,” says times. Reflecting on this, Sunil explains, “We are a dent project. It was transferred to Phoenix Mohan Kumar, trainer, Indian Association for big services economy now. Across metros, the num - Medical Systems for just `1. Phoenix further the Blind (IAB), Madurai. bers are huge. Skills have a big role to play in the developed the device and now manufactures it. Smart Cane is selling in Bengaluru, current scenario.” Saksham Trust in New Delhi trains users. Ahmedabad, Dehradun, Delhi and also in A lot of learning will need to happen as they go Several design innovations were done to make Kashmir. In Bengaluru, IIT Delhi conducted a along. Will Near.in take the long road to creating Smart Cane fit for Indian consumers. The envi - training programme with 40 participants like true value and improving the standards of services ronment in Indian cities is especially challenging Enable India, Mitra Jyothi and the National is the question. Right now it seems a far-out idea for the visually impaired. Public spaces are full of Federation for the Blind. n whose time has come. n

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 23 BUSINESS the milk of kindness

Shweta Vitta this enables our veterinarians to attend New Delhi to any problem immediately.” Once the cows are milked, the milk is IPTUR is a small town about 150 immediately chilled in the chilling unit km from Bengaluru, surrounded at 4 oC, completely eliminating the need Tby water bodies and coconut for pasteurisation. Besides, the indige - plantations. Set against this bucolic nous technology used makes farmers background is Akshayakalpa — a cluster self-sustainable — cow dung and urine of organic, sustainable, rural dairy farms are diverted to the biogas plant which that operate on the power of empathy. produces enough methane gas to run the Established in 2010 by Ashoka Fellow technology used on the farm for eight and veterinary expert Dr GNS Reddy, hours every day, drastically reducing this enterprise is radically redefining the dependence on the power grid. way dairies are run in India. The cows are fed a variety of organic Akshayakalpa’s ingenious and compas - fodder — monocots (maize, ragi, multi- sionate methods are creating happy cut jowar , and local jowar ), dicots (cow cows, healthy milk and increasing the pea, field beans, velvet beans) and tree income of farmers. As a result, rural to The health and comfort of cows takes precedence fodder ( moringa ). The fodder is grown urban migration is being minimised. by the farmers adhering to the organic “Today, cooperatives lay more stress protocols set by Akshayakalpa. on minimising production costs and Dr Reddy says, “A well-grown cow optimising performances. They seldom needs 40 kg of fresh fodder every day to think about the comfort and health of give 15 litres of organic milk which has their cattle. This incorrect focus is one of over 60 digestive enzymes and immuno - the prime reasons for the low productiv - globins and high contents of essential ity and quality of milk,” says Dr Reddy. raw fats, amino acids and proteins, all of Most of the milk sold in the market is which are 100 per cent digestible.” adulterated, containing contaminants With a sense of fulfilment, Dr Reddy from detergents to urea and formalin, says, “By training farmers to place making it unfit for consumption. greater importance on the welfare of According to the National Survey of cows and enabling technology at the Milk Adulteration 2011, a snapshot ground level, we have reduced the mor - study, as much as 70 per cent of milk tality of cows from 10 per cent to 0.2 per samples collected from across the coun - cent. Milk production has increased try did not conform to set standards. from a national average of 2.5 litres per Dr GnS reddy at the Akshayakalpa dairy farm “By the time the milk reaches the con - cow per day to as much as 10 litres per sumer, most of its nutritional content is lost. The catching mastitis, diarrhoea and hoof infections. cow per day.” consumer doesn’t gain any value for the money he The harmful effects emerge in every glass of milk Currently, there are 105 farms at various stages of or she has spent,” says Dr Reddy. consumed by the customer.” development and 40 are fully functional. Each he emphasises that it is important to focus on Finally, at the packaging stage, since most local farmer earns anywhere between `40,000 to production processes for better milk. “The dairy farmers don’t have chilling units, milk needs to be `100,000, depending on the size of the dairy farm. system inflicts continuous suffering on cows. They pasteurised and the process destroys many useful In the first phase, Dr Reddy aims to set up 300 are tied up in congested and poorly ventilated areas, nutrients such as vitamins A, C, B6 and B12, iodine farms which will produce 100,000 litres of milk curbing their freedom to move around freely. Water and calcium. The milk is more or less ‘dead’. every day. isn’t available round the clock for them. The cows Akshayakalpa follows a different philosophy and “Milk is the cheapest source of protein available are fed artificial, factory-made fodder such as different methods. Every day, its dairy farms pro - to our population,” says Dr Reddy. “By providing groundnut cakes and bran. To increase milk pro - duce 5,000 litres of ‘farm chilled, organic cow milk’ value addition to farmers and increasing monetary ductivity, steroids, artificial hormones and antibi - using ‘udder to cap’ automation technology. The benefits, they will independently produce high- otics are used regularly,” explains Dr Reddy. milk is sold for `50 per litre and demand is increas - quality, nutritious milk which will become a new Cows get used to a particular person’s milking ing by the day. With an initial investment of approx - normal very soon.” n style. But when the milking person changes fre - imately `20-25 lakh, a full-fledged Akshayakalpa www.india.ashoka.org quently, the style, speed and pressure applied while dairy farm has 20-25 cows, an advanced cowshed, milking also varies. “This has a deep impact on a an automated milking system, a biogas plant and cow’s stress levels. Given that cows aren’t treated generator, a fodder chopper and a chilling unit, all well and are under stress all the time, the quality of of which are vital to produce healthy milk. the milk obviously suffers,” says Dr Reddy. At Akshayakalpa, the health and comfort of cows Citing an example, he says, “In most sheds, there takes precedence. The cow is queen. “In our dairy aren’t separate areas to milk the cows. When people farms, we ensure all our cows are stress-free and milk the cows manually, naturally there is spillage. treated gently, with love and care,” says Dr Reddy. The milk that drips on the ground becomes an “They move about freely and have access to green, excellent breeding ground for bacteria to thrive. healthy fodder as well as water throughout the day. These germs ultimately find their way into the cow’s Their sheds are well-ventilated and cleaned regular - system. So when cows are restricted to one place, ly, minimising the risk of disease. For resting, there they are forced to sit on this bacteria and even their are comfortable mats. Each cow is monitored elec - own faecal matter. This increases their chances of tronically for its health and milk production and

24 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 INSIghtS opinion AnAlySiS reSeArCh iDeAS spare the rod, save the child

DiLEEP RANJEKAR

IN 2003, my colleague, BACK To MN Baig, and I were vis - iting schools that were SChooL part of the Accelerated Learning Program of the Azim Premji Foundation. In a school in Gulbarga (now Kalburgi) district, I asked the headmistress, pointing to a teacher carrying a stick, “Why, in so many schools, do the teachers carry canes?” Unfazed, she replied, “Sir, the children in rural schools are very thick-skinned. They are not like our urban children. The only language they under - stand is that of the cane.” I was shocked to hear this philosophy espoused by someone who was the cus - todian of the culture of the school and responsible for the future of those young minds. In her, I saw a jailor who believed that inmates deserved to be treated with a certain cruelty — without which they would not be reformed. Thereafter, I witnessed this in many schools. The male teachers, especially, would always carry a cane and would not hesitate to use it on the children. When asked why they carried the cane, they would come up with lame excuses like: as an indicator when showing maps. One gave a hilarious explana - tion: he slapped the cane against his trousers so that The male teachers, especially, would always carry a the children knew he was entering the class. Despite clear provisions in the Right to Education cane and would not hesitate to use it on the children. (RTE) Act, punishment of children — physical or When asked why they carried the cane, they would mental — continues unabated across the country. In many ways, it is a reflection of centuries of societal come up with lame excuses. mindset. For hundreds of years, people have believed that punishment is an effective way of dis - are several children who earlier did not participate law in a private forum or on the streets. Corporal ciplining children and making them do what we in activities or did not speak much but have now punishment is prohibited by Section 17 of the RTE want. become very active and expressive. Act and it is not debatable. If you want to change it, When we started the Azim Premji Foundation At times, my daughter gets frustrated with her you will have to follow the process of changing it in Schools among remote and disadvantaged commu - seven-year-old son and shouts at him and, though Parliament. Nor is it open to interpretation, finding nities, there were two complaints from parents in the rarely, even uses physical force. My wife and I loopholes or arbitrary partial implementation as initial months. One, our schools did not give home - remind her: “Did we ever intimidate you when you per people’s convenience. work; second, their children were not punished. were a child?” She agrees that we did not but then At another level, those who want to use punish - They went to the extent of saying that our schools argues that she was a more disciplined child and did ment as a means of child reform seem to be coming pampered the children and promoted indiscipline. not need to be coerced. from an archaic belief system about the child and Today, some 24 months later, they have realised I am often asked questions by some of the new human development. The old system used to the importance of bringing up their children members of the Foundation: “What is wrong if a believe that children are essentially defective and through dialogue, self-commitment and self-reali - teacher, once in a while, uses punishment to enforce need to be ‘repaired’. And the only way to repair sation. They too have stopped beating their chil - discipline? Doesn’t a mother too punish her child?” them is to ‘reward’ them for predefined ‘good’ dren at home. The children have become far more I am always open to debate and discussing issues behaviour and ‘punish’ them for not conforming to self-confident and don’t need threatening, shouting on merit. however, on one issue — corporal pun - such norms. or beating to make them do anything. In fact, there ishment — I refuse discussion. We cannot debate Continued on page 26

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 25 INSIGhTS no data on urban investment

a new ‘Mission for Development of 100 Smart Cities’ nomic entities. A consolidated figure on the quan - and allocated `76 billion in the 2014-15 Budget. tum of investments a city is able to attract is These statistics highlight the direct link between the unavailable in the public domain. There is not a sin - level of urbanisation and economic productivity and gle public or private entity that can provide annual performance. investment data for a city or region. There are no In order to catch up with the explosive pace of regulatory mechanisms to know comprehensively urbanisation in India, mega investments are hap - the total quantum of investments, what is happen - sUNiL AGARwAL pening and will continue to happen in the future. ing with these investments, and what they are doing These large-scale investments serve as catalysts in to the city and its people. Given the current trend of IT is undeniable that urbanisation is happening and making cities the engines of economic growth. Even data-driven decision-making, the absence of such cities are growing, expanding, sprawling beyond the investments by Micro, Small and Medium critical information has serious implications on the imagination of city planners or economists or all of Enterprises (MSMEs), that mostly create jobs for the overall planning of a city or region. them put together. While half the world population semi-skilled / unskilled labour force, affect the local For example, in Maharashtra big-ticket invest - now lives in cities, 31 per cent of the Indian popula - economy. For instance, in the Pune region alone, the ment (investments greater than `500 million) data is tion too now lives in cities (according to the 2011 MSMEs invested `7.65 billion in 2010-11. available with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Census report) and this is expected to grow by 10 It is not an epiphany that urbanisation and infra - Board (MPCB) and the District Industries Centre million annually until 2050. The McKinsey report structure need investments and that these invest - (DIC) collects data from the MSMEs. however, with (2010) estimates that the size of India’s GDP will be ments create jobs, incomes, wealth and make cities the government notification (S.O. 3252 (E)) on 22 five times the 2010 GDP size, by 2030; the net liveable. Usually, it is the investments that define the December 2014 exempting large building and con - increase in working age population will be 270 mil - direction of a city or region’s growth. however, struction projects as well as township development lion people; 70 per cent of net new employment will Indian cities are still not looked at as important eco - and area development projects, a lot of information be generated in cities; and capi - LAKsHMAN ANAND which was earlier available tal investment necessary to with MPCB will have huge meet the projected demand in data gaps because of non-col - Indian cities will be $1.2 trillion lection of largescale real estate by 2030. Yes, cities is where data. Similarly, while it was action is! mandatory for all MSMEs to The contribution of cities to register with DIC till 2006 the the national GDP is ever-increas - MSMED Act 2006 made infor - ing and they are projected to mation reporting by these contribute roughly 70 per cent to MSMEs optional. Therefore India’s GDP by 2030. the information available with Recognising the need for and the DICs is based on selective self- importance of investments in reporting by MSMEs and has urban areas, the government of gaps in the data. India set up a high Powered While some systems were Expert Committee (hPEC) for put in place to collect city or estimating the requirements for regional-level investment data, urban infrastructure in May can we now afford to tweak 2008. The Committee found them in such a way to miss out there is a requirement of invest - on this vital information? n ment in urban infrastructure to Sunil Agarwal is a consultant to Habitat Forum the tune of `39 trillion (2009-10 (www.inhaf.org) and is working on ‘Investment Watch’, an initiative that aims to identify, prices) over the next 20 years. quantify and understand what investments are The government also announced doing to cities and the urban poor

Continued from page 25 meted out to them by certain teachers — some 50 A teacher is often required to deal with 30 to 40 The concept of punishment is not new. It exists years ago. socially and economically diverse children in a even in our mythology. About 50 years ago, I expe - The most critical stakeholders who need to be sen - classroom. Unless she is equipped to deal practical - rienced a draconian teacher of handcraft who used sitised and educated on this issue are parents and ly with such complexity, she would tend to use her sharp objects to slowly tap on our palms and also teachers. Our experience in the Azim Premji own methods of dealing with it and this could pinch us where it hurt the most. he was creative in Foundation Schools assures us it is very much possi - include punishment. inventing newer methods of punishment each day ble to bring about change in the way both these stake - Punishing a child in any manner amounts to and even the girls were not spared. Our history holders view this issue. The most powerful way of breaking a law or committing a crime. teacher once slapped a girl in our class so hard that demonstrating the futility of punishment is by prac - Punishment has the potential for far-reaching she fainted. The entire class protested and went to tising a constructive way of dealing with children. negative impact for the child and society. We cannot the school supervisor who, sensibly, reprimanded The pre- and in-service teacher education must ignore the suicides of thousands of students each the teacher. include the principles and practices of dealing with year – arising out of the fear of punishment or The RTE Act also covers ‘mental harassment’ that the education process without punishment. It has to humiliation by parents, peers and teachers. includes a range of methods, from shouting at the be an integral part of pre-service teacher education. As John holt said, fear, boredom and confusion child to humiliating him. On most occasions, the What is needed is a philosophical commitment by are the three key reasons for failure of children to scars of mental harassment can be far deeper than teachers. The teachers then have to educate the par - realise their potential. And punishment creates fear of physical punishment. Some of my schoolmates ents through continuous formal and informal inter - in the mind of a learner. n are still unable to get over the treatment that was actions. Dileep Ranjekar is CEO of the Azim Premji Foundation

26 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 INSIGhTS walking a fine line

l Improving the business environment for promot - must retain the interest of foreign investors. ing both domestic and foreign investors to acceler - The PM’s best bet for putting together a support - ate growth and generate employment. ive coalition lies in remaining focused on the devel - l Dismantling the dysfunctional system of proce - opment agenda and not allowing partisan issues to dural clearances and permissions whose burden distract him. he will have to rein in his rightwing falls disproportionately on MSMEs; supporters from stoking communal issues and RAJiV KUMAR l Plugging leakages in the distribution of subsidies using anti-minority rhetoric. he has already stated by moving to a system of direct cash transfers; that his government will not support any commu - l Affording greater fiscal autonomy to the states to nal programme and will ensure that the benefits of EvER since his electoral victory, enable them to design social sector programmes to growth are equitably distributed. It is possible that iNDiA the question facing Prime suit their conditions; and such a clear centrist and development-oriented Minister Narendra Modi has l Strengthening energy and food security while stance in the pan-India context will yield rich divi - fiRST been: will he successfully lead protecting the environment. dends as it did in Gujarat. India on an economic trajectory It is perhaps even more important for the PM to that will ensure rapid, inclusive and sustained It is clear that the Modi-Jaitley team does not ensure that his credibility as a pragmatic economic growth in the coming years? view the Budget as a one-off exercise to maximise reformer is strengthened. he can achieve this by The stakes are unusually high. If the PM is success - short-term gains or achieve immediate goals. taking tangible steps to improve people’s daily lives ful, India can emerge as a good example of a plural - Instead, they have used it as part of a medium-term and making conditions more conducive for ordi - istic democracy breaking out of the nary businessmen. This will essen - low to middle-income trap. This tially require addressing the triple will have global implications in deficits in governance, infrastruc - economic and geo-strategic terms. ture and education. Failure to push towards a higher Substantial progress in these three economic trajectory and instead areas can be achieved through exec - succumb to hubris, populist eco - utive action, without having to face nomic nostrums and to the prema - legislative hurdles. These include: ture ambitions of a global role measurable and visible reduction in would result in another unsuccess - corruption; easier entry and exit ful economic take-off for India. conditions for businesses; freeing This would be disastrous because a MSMEs from the deadening hand of young, impatient and aspiring pop - petty bureaucracy and rent-seekers; ulation is a double-edged sword. It and achieving greater efficiency in can yield a hugely positive demo - the delivery of public services, espe - graphic dividend. But it can also cially primary education and basic precipitate social and political strife health. Substantial progress in these if its aspirations are thwarted and areas will ensure that Modi’s politi - its potential goes unrealised. cal credibility continues to rise, Given this context, the Budget for making it more difficult for opposi - 2015-16 was one of the most antici - tion parties to unify against his pated economic events in recent history. Two more strategy to put the Indian economy on a higher and reform agenda. It will also help him thwart pressures contingent factors made it even more critical for this sustained growth path. from his rightwing supporters. Budget to send the right signals. Overall, the Budget comes through as a pragmat - It is not entirely clear that the required executive One, the investor community adopted a wait- ic attempt, replete with small focused measures that capacity is available. The PM has to create the and-watch stance. Second, there was a genuine fear will improve growth prospects. There is a conscious required capacity in his Cabinet and senior bureau - that, with AAP’s handsome win in the Delhi elec - attempt to avoid a big bang or grab headlines. This cracy to effectively address the three critical deficits. tions in January on a populist platform, the PM and is in keeping with the PM’s apparent preference for he will also have to re-engineer the incentive struc - his Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, could be under incrementalism combined with persistent follow-up tures for both the political leadership and senior pressure to jettison the reform agenda and adopt a to make a tangible difference on the ground. The bureaucracy to deliver or be held accountable for populist programme in the Budget. approach does face the risk of being perceived as far desired outcomes in addressing the three deficits. They did not succumb to these pressures and too timid and full of bureaucratic inertia, and there - Modi has a reputation for successfully exploiting have persisted with a policy of reigniting invest - by unable to improve investor sentiment. This can the inherent potential of an operating system. Let’s ment, accelerating growth and at the same time be avoided by persistent follow-up for results on the hope that this will allow him to get the best from the ensuring that the benefits of faster growth reach ground. bureaucratic establishment that he has inherited, those at the bottom of the pyramid. The goal of generating 12 million jobs each year but which he himself described as largely broken The Budget expectedly bears Modi’s imprint in for the next two decades is a daunting but unavoid - during his Independence Day address. mapping a path for putting India back on a rapid, able target. Can the economic measures initiated by he would, therefore, do well to augment this capac - sustained and inclusive growth trajectory. Modi’s government achieve such targets? ity by freely borrowing talent from the private sector It depends on three factors. First, the PM’s ability and civil society. This is especially true for designing There are seven principal components: to successfully build a political coalition in support new policies and coming up with new solutions l Maintaining a stable macroeconomic environ - of his economic agenda and to ensure necessary leg - where sheer incrementalism may not suffice. The PM ment by emphasising fiscal prudence and reining in islative sanction for some critically needed reforms. will have to drive the bureaucracy to higher levels of inflation; Second, the PM has to ensure that the bureaucracy efficiency, transparency and accountability and be l Eliminating the three perennial deficits of infra - has the capacity and necessary incentives to imple - prepared to augment it where necessary. n structure, governance and education, which afflict ment his economic reform. Third, external eco - Rajiv Kumar is Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, and Founder-Director, poor people the most; nomic conditions must remain benign and India Pahle India Foundation.

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 27 INSIGhTS out in the cold

Pension Scheme from `1 lakh to `1.5 lakh. reduced to 60 years and the monthly amount was To provide a social safety net and pension facility increased to `500 for persons aged 80 and above. to individuals, an additional deduction of `50,000 is In 2002-3, the scheme covered 7.4 million older proposed to be provided for contribution to the people and in 2010-11, this number was 17 million. New Pension Scheme under Section 80CCD. In addition, 0.8 million were covered under It would seem that the focus is to create a pen - Annapurna in 2002-3 and one million in 2010-11. MATHEw CHERiAN sioned society. This is very well-intentioned but The inadequacy of the numbers and amount pensions for the poor was not a priority in the should be seen in the context of population ageing Budget. The New Pension Scheme has very few tak - and also in terms of the older persons living below ThIS year’s Budget presentation ers so the government is trying to make it a success. the poverty line, along with the rise in the cost of liv - GREy was preceded by hope that there The National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) ing over the years and lack of facilities like healthcare. would be a departure from the under the National Social Assistance Programme LiNES past. On the last day of (NSAP) was introduced as a centrally sponsored It is important to mention the pathetic recommenda - February, Finance Minister scheme in 1995. It provided a monthly pension of tions of the Task Force on National Social Assistance Arun Jaitley indicated that the emphasis Programme, Ministry of Rural would be on social security as prom - Development, which submitted its ised in the BJP manifesto. report in March 2013: l Immediately increase central assis - With regard to the elderly, this is what tance to `300 per month for the age he proposed: group 60-79, which will require an l A new scheme for providing physi - additional outlay of `1,762 crore per cal aids and assisted living devices for annum. This will benefit the existing senior citizens below the poverty line. 1.47 crore old age pensioners in this l From unclaimed deposits of about age group. `3,000 crore in the PPF and approxi - l Rates of assistance should be mately `6,000 crore in the EPF corpus, indexed to inflation annually, using creation of a Senior Citizens’ Welfare the criteria adopted for payment of Fund to subsidise the premiums of dearness allowance to central govern - vulnerable groups such as old age ment employees. pensioners, BPL card-holders, small l Coverage should be expanded over and marginal farmers and others. the Twelfth Plan period in a phased manner, with the ultimate objective The proposals in this regard are as that all households eligible for bene - follows: fits under the National Food Security l Increase in the limit of deduction in Act will also be covered. respect of health insurance premium from `15,000 to `25,000. however, the allocations in this l For senior citizens the limit will Is it too much to ask the government to Budget for the elderly clearly amount stand increased to `30,000 from the to an additional allocation of `10,000 existing `20,000. commit 1 per cent of the GDP for the crore, `9,000 crore for a Senior l For very senior citizens 80 years old various schemes benefitting 10 per cent Citizens’ Welfare Fund and another or more, who are not covered by `1,000 crore for assistive devices. The health insurance, deduction of of the population? amount allocated for senior citizens is `30,000 towards expenditure still less than 0.032 per cent of GDP. incurred on their treatment will be allowed. `75 to a destitute person over the age of 65. The lim - Is it too much to ask the goverment to commit 1 l The deduction limit of `60,000 towards expendi - ited coverage of the scheme was basically due to per cent of the GDP for the various schemes benefit - ture on account of specified diseases of serious resource constraints since, as against 8.71 million ting 10 per cent of the population? Is it too much to nature is proposed to be enhanced to `80,000 in eligible beneficiaries, only five million could be cov - ask that each ministry allocates proportionate case of very senior citizens. ered under the scheme, using central funds. human and material resources to deal with the l For the benefit of senior citizens, service tax On 1 April 2000, a new scheme called Annapurna respective aspects of age care? Is it too much to ask exemption will be provided on varishta Bima was launched with the objective of providing food the refurbished Niti Aayog to continue to include Yojana. security to the destitute who were not being covered the important concerns of the ageing population in l Increase in the limit of deduction under Section under the National Old Age Pension Scheme. This its deliberations? And, is it too much to ask the rep - 80CCC of the Income-tax Act on account of contri - scheme was expected to cover 20 per cent of the resentatives of the people in Parliament to ask cer - bution to a pension fund of LIC or IRDA-approved older persons eligible for NOAPS. The scheme was tain pertinent questions on behalf of the voiceless 10 insurer from `1 lakh to `1.5 lakh. not received well by the states as some refused to million elderly Indians? What has the government l Increase in the limit of deduction under Section implement it and others demanded modifications. done to improve the condition of older persons in 80CCD of the Income-tax Act on account of contri - In 2001-2, as against the target of 1.34 million per - the country and what are its plans to do so in future? bution by the employee to the National Pension sons, only 15 per cent could be covered. Why has the government not mentioned the con - Scheme (NPS) from `1 lakh to `1.50 lakh. It is also In 2007, NOAPS was renamed the Indira Gandhi cerns of older persons in its schemes and budgets? proposed to provide a deduction of up to `50,000 National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) and This Budget has also failed India’s elderly. Though over and above the limit of `1.50 lakh in respect of made applicable to all older persons belonging to the Finance Minister’s speech indicated the right contributions made to NPS. families living below the poverty line. The central intentions, there was not much allocation to favour l Increase in the limit of deduction on account of contribution per beneficiary per month was the elderly poor. n contribution to a Pension Fund and the New increased to `200. In 2011, the age criterion was Mathew Cherian is CEO of HelpAge India

28 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 lIvINg BookS eCo-TouriSm Film TheATre AyurveDA coorg’s rainforest hotel

sUsHEELA NAiR

Cottages built on stilts are aesthetic and luxurious

sUsHEELA NAiR Susheela Nair cups of coffee. Coorg goes into hibernation during Bengaluru the monsoon but this hilltop resort is a wonderful place for a monsoon break. I watched the rain NTERING Tamara, a hilltop resort nestled in drench the landscape and listened to the pitter-pat - the upper reaches of the Kabbinakad hills in ter of raindrops on the roof from the wooded com - ECoorg district, you come face to face with fort of my room. greenery at its luxuriant best. Before you reach the Getting to the restaurant was an exercise in burn - lobby, there is a seven-km drive through a coffee ing calories. The cool air definitely whipped up my plantation — passing sparkling waterfalls hurtling appetite. The restaurant, built almost wholly with down rocks, gushing streams and rippling brooks, wood, had a bar constructed over a stream and a and mossy nooks gurgling with crystal-clear water. translucent dance floor through which you could I soaked in the beauty of the foliage and breathed see a gushing stream nearly 30 feet below. The tim - in the crisp morning air. Flowering shrubs, indige - ber structure is ingeniously designed and built by nous plants and sculptures flanked winding path - reputed architect N. Mahesh. A profusion of ways on both sides. After check-in, a battery-oper - Balinese artifacts dominates the resort. Two ated buggy ferried me to my cottage which was Buddha visages and volcanic ash murals welcome perched on timber stilts at the edge of a hill within you into the restaurant. Surrounded by forests on the 170-acre coffee plantation. three sides and with a valley in front, the restaurant Each cottage comprises a patio, a living area and enjoys a sweeping view of the landscape. a bedroom at split-level. The interiors are plush and I pampered my palate with delicious Kodava fare. tastefully done with aesthetic furnishing. Large The most delectable items on the menu were the French windows open onto a private balcony with a succulent pandi (pork) curry and kadambuttu stunning view of the valley and virajpet. It was (steamed rice dumplings). I tucked into Kodava del - soothing to relax in the balcony, sipping steaming Sparkling waterfalls and a dense forest Continued on page 30

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 29 LIvING

Continued from page 29 of colour and we realised these were birds darting icacies like the koli (chicken) curry, nool puttu or around. We spotted yellow-browed bulbuls, Pacific rice noodles, kumm (mushroom) curry, bembla swallows, grasshopper warblers, blue jays and yellow- (bamboo shoot) curry and akki roti or rice roti billed babblers. We were not fortunate enough to discover craft with good earth served with honey. Local ingredients like mush- sight some rare species, including the Malabar tro- rooms, bamboo shoots, native ginger, chillies, pep- gon, great black woodpecker and the Malabar per, cardamom and kachumpuli (local vinegar) are whistling-thrush. profusely used in this ethnic cuisine. After completing the plantation trail, I was ush- At night, everything seemed to sparkle anew. I ered to The verandah, a veritable museum. The ever- watched the rain drumming on the green canopy present aroma of coffee wafted through. The walls of sUsHEELA NAiR The verandah were lined with numerous illustra- tions of coffee-growing regions. Every nook and corner showcases various apparatuses used for cur- ing, roasting and grinding coffee along with other coffee paraphernalia. There is an exquisite gift shop here too with a range of branded memo- rabilia and gifting ideas. There is also a bookstore well-equipped with histo- ry books. This heritage building is the perfect backdrop for guests to indulge themselves whilst The Good earth store in Delhi: stylish, traditional they stay over at the and luxurious resort. It was an incredible learning experience to Civil Society News trace the entire life cycle of New Delhi the red coffee berry, encompassing farming, hE Good Earth stores in India are best harvesting, drying, blend- known for their good taste. Nothing you buy ing and roasting, before it Tis out of sync. Whether apparel, pottery or reaches millions of con- furnishing, the products are an amalgam of style, sumers in steaming cups luxury and traditional craft. of fresh brew. At the “Crafted by hand, inspired by nature and Custom Coffee section, I enchanted by history. Each design has a story. Every learnt to custom blend and story takes you on a journey,” is Good Earth’s roast my own coffee beans mantra. to create the perfect cuppa Designers with Good Earth have embarked on and call it my own. While many a yatra to search for craftspeople with a yen enjoying a freshly brewed for style. Trek through the coffee plantation in the rain cup at the Coffee Bar, my “At Good Earth we are all passionate about hand - guide emphasised that the icrafts. Our constant endeavour is to find craftspeo - before me and heard the forest come alive with chirp- instant variety of coffee available in cities is not ple from across India whom are keen to do interest - ing birds, buzzing insects and croaking frogs. ‘good coffee’. ing work. We actually go hunting for them,” says The next morning, armed with an umbrella and a From the resort, you can also explore the many Akshay Deep Singh, who heads the apparel design guide, I embarked on a long, invigorating walk delights of Coorg. For the spiritually inclined, there division of Good Earth. across the sprawling coffee and spice plantation. is the Bhagamandala temple, dedicated to the A textile designer and a graduate from the Walking in the rain with leeches for company is a hindu Trinity, at the confluence of the Cauvery, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), thrilling experience. The air here has a whiff of the Kanika and Sujyothi. There is also a temple at Akshay is equipped with a team of five designers. coffee that Coorg is famous for. I saw coffee beans Talacauvery, the source of the Cauvery. One can Each works with a craft cluster — a group of artisans in different stages of growth. The guide pointed out visit the Igguthappa temple, one of the sacred tem- and weavers who have been organised as a coopera - two varieties of coffee plants, Arabica and Robusta, ples of the Kodavas, or the Nalaknad Palace, the for- tive or as an NGO. The designer’s job is to improve grown at the estate which is also dotted with car- mer hunting lodge and summer getaway of the styles and ensure the craftspeople get enough work damom plants, cinnamon trees and pepper vines Kodagu kings. You can also go on a guided trek to and proper wages. Akshay has been working with clinging to graceful silver oak trees. Tadiyendamol, the tallest peak in Kodagu. n different clusters for the past five years. We also looked for exotic flora and fauna, exclu- “The aim is not just to get beautiful ethnic sive to Coorg, and spotted rare designs created by the craftspeople but to provide species of giant Rudraksha, fact file them with a livelihood, a guaranteed occupation,” By AiR: Mangalore is 195 km away, bengaluru is 310 km orchids and colourful frogs. A away. he says. The team ensures that craftspeople don’t get bright red ginger torch By RAiL: Mysore is 133 km away, Thalassery is 125 km. cheated by middlemen. “That’s the reason our net - flower caught my atten- work of craftspeople and weavers have been work - By RoAD: The Kabbinakad junction is 270 km from tion. The resort is an bengaluru, 164 km from Mangalore and 187 km from ing happily with us for years,” says Akshay. avian paradise. At inter- Kozhikode. “Now our relationship has reached a stage where vals, there were flashes TAmARA RESoRT: 080-2609 0707: www.tamara.com we are approached by them. Our entire team is

30 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 LIvING discover craft with good earth PiCTUREs by AJiT KRisHNA minimalistic. Not on the whole garment. Just a pinch of it. Maybe around the neck or the shoulders so that it looks modern, refined and contemporary,” explains Akshay. The finished garment has an unmistakeable Indian stamp. “But it does not say that I am ethnic. It says I am contemporary, I am Indian and I am very proud of my craft,” says Akshay. he also journeyed to Dharwad in Karnataka. Another traditional form of embroidery called kasuti is practised here. An intricate stitch, it is used on the Kanjeevaram sari. Most patterns created are gopuras , chariots, lamps and conch shells. Karnataka holds a geographical indication for kasu - ti but it suffers from lack of patronage. Good Earth has partnered with an NGO, Kai Craft, to revive and modernise this technique. “I wanted to take up an embroidery that had been overlooked by other designers,” he says. Akshay’s yatra took him to the kasuti cluster in Dharwad. The craftspeople here had become inured to doing kasuti in a fixed format. Akshay had to persuade them to go back in time and revive a more subtle version of the kasuti . The general opinion was that kasuti didn’t have a future. The designs were boring. The stitch was ordinary. To make it look extraordinary, Akshay quite accessible,” he designed three collections with the kasuti embroi - says. derers. Anita Lal, founder “The first one was a very subtle one on khadi. The and creative director of second was an eye-catching black and white collec - Good Earth, started the tion and now we are planning to do one bursting first store in 1996 in with colour,” he says. Mumbai. She believes It needs tact and patience to change the way that “true luxury is in craftspeople work. Most are used to doing a partic - the details of everyday ular stitch with a specific thread and a familiar living. It is being sur - motif. rounded by things that The Good Earth team therefore tries to keep its are natural and hand - designs as simple as possible so that the craftsper - crafted with designs son does not feel overawed or intimidated. that elevate the spirit.” Consumers too need to be given a reality check. Though the store has “For instance, we taught our embroiderers in a melange of artistic Lucknow to recreate the flawless original chikankari products, their starting that made it famous. It was a difficult proposition point was the simple for them to understand. We were telling them it’s Akshay Deep Singh: ‘We wanted to create the perfect khadi kurta’ khadi kurta. fine to take a step back into history and not cater to “We felt that there current commercial tastes,” says Akshay. was a dearth of good, ‘The aim is not just to get beautiful he says most weavers and embroiderers share well-stitched khadi ethnic designs created by the Good Earth’s passion for their craft. Yes, they would kurtas,” explains like to be admired for the finished garment but, Akshay. “We wanted to craftspeople but to provide them with a more important, they want to be admired for their create the perfect khadi livelihood, a guaranteed occupation.’ techniques. Most weavers and craftspeople are very kurta which one could skilled, points out Akshay. wear through the day. So we worked with weavers They walked through Mehbooba Bagh, famous for “When we started, we faced problems. NGOs who were spinning natural handspun khadi. We chikankari. “When chikankari was started by Mughal and craft clusters have very limited resources. The visited many regions. We found that each had its Emperor Jehangir’s beautiful wife, Nur Jehan, the number of people engaged is also small. So we own version of the natural handspun fabric.” Good concept was to create luxurious embroidery on pure ensure we give them a lot of time to complete our Earth finally zeroed in on a cluster. cotton. But it has lost its authenticity. So we have garments,” says Akshay. What caught their attention after that were majorly tried to revive the original chikankari by Instead of dictating deadlines, Good Earth asks organic indigo dying techniques. An NGO in using blocks to embroider,” he says. Old embroidery its craftspeople and weavers to decide delivery Wardha had organised a cooperative where this and motifs have been resuscitated too. dates. Good Earth’s collection calendar is designed craft was being revived. Good Earth began to work Akshay’s next yatra was to Kolkata’s back alleys accordingly. “We don’t haggle with craftspeople. We with them to improve design. where he has been helping craftspeople use the tra - pay well and take care of them. Artisans are a major “It has been a good association for four-and-a- ditional kantha , a hand-run stitch, in a more con - part of the company. They are not just doing a job half years now,” says Akshay. temporary way. for us,” says Akshay. n Another yatra took him and his team to Lucknow. “The new style of using the kantha stitch is very Contact: www.goodearth.in

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 31 LIvING ‘indian media is part of the story’ LAKsHMAN ANAND

Civil Society News in the south and the politics-journalism-business some of the landmark events and issues that indi - New Delhi nexus. There is a chapter on sting journalism and cate a change in the role of the Indian media, from another on paid news. an observer — reporting on events and issues in OR all the attention that Tv channels, newspa - The authors examine reportage of the Mumbai ter - politics, economy and culture — to that of a partak - pers and magazines get in India, there is little ror attacks and attempt to answer whether media er, reporting events and issues as a participant Fserious scrutiny of their functioning. Questions crossed the line in how it covered developments. rather than as an onlooker of events and issues. Our of ownership, monopoly, independence and profes - Anna hazare’s movement, where traditional media argument is that the Indian news media cannot be sional skills are not adequately addressed in the pub - followed social media, the Nirbhaya case and the isolated from the social, economic and political lic domain. Regulation is weak and hasn’t evolved. media’s ‘mediated nationalism’ in foreign policy issues changes taking place in India and overseas. The past three decades have seen the Indian such as the Sri Lankan ethnic issue or attacks on media grow exponentially. It has gone from a few Indian students in Australia, form part of the book. You have chosen topics that are the subject of much newspapers and magazines and one government- debate here — paid news, sting journalism, the cor - run television channel to global connectivity. Its Why a second volume on the Indian media? porate-political nexus... Is all this eroding the status reach is much more than it ever was. From time to The interest is partly because we worked as journal - and credibility the media used to enjoy earlier? time it asserts itself as an important pillar of a ists in India in the 1990s when significant changes Maya: In this book I have attempted to move away democracy. But questions also arise about its integri - were sweeping across the Indian mediascape. from the media studies perspective of news as purely ty and relevance. Does it really serve to inform and Globalisation and the evolution of communication related to truth and reality. The concern in the chap - empower citizens? Or is it awash in paid news and technologies changed not only the ways in which ters is not so much the extent to which news reflects coloured reportage? has ownership by big business news was produced and delivered, but also called truth, as the processes, procedures and other influ - made the media biased in favour of the for a redefinition of ‘news’. ences on news that have changed the way we perceive rich? Are journalists finding it easier to Our subsequent entry into academia it. No media outlet is immune to these influences. become part of the stories they cover as provided us with an opportunity to Paid news and sting journalism, for instance, are they struggle to cope with new technolo - explore and understand the changes consequences of these influences. While as a whole, gies on the one hand and the demands of occurring in the Indian media in the news media may not enjoy the elevated status that it managements on the other? context of changes worldwide. The enjoyed in the eighties, it is worth remembering that Many of these questions are dealt with books also allow us to theorise some of readers and audiences are now more media-savvy by Usha Rodrigues and Maya the significant developments and impli - and are able to construct their own accounts of truth Ranganathan in India News Media: cations of the Indian media’s changing from the diversity of sources available to them. From Observer to Participant as they role in society. look back on the past 25 years and ana - In the first volume, we explored the Why do you think journalists are drifting from lyze coverage of key events and issues. transformation of the Indian media in their earlier role as observers and watchdogs to They are Ph.D scholars who teach in INDIAN NEWS the context of two major developments: becoming participants? Australia and both have been journalists MEDIA globalisation/liberalisation and advances We would hesitate to call it a conscious drift on the in India in the 1990s. This is their sec - From Observer to in communication technologies. We part of journalists. It is the result of the ‘mediatisa - ond book on the Indian media. Participant addressed several issues that impacted tion’ of the public sphere in the country, where the In eight chapters the book captures Usha M Rodrigues the media industry in India following its media has become omnipresent, and yet is under some key events and trends. The first Maya Ranganathan merger with the global media market, pressure from extremely competitive conditions in chapter is an analysis of the impact of although the media in India remains the Indian media market. ` 895 neo-liberalism on the Indian media. Sage national and local in significant ways. however, the changing role of the news media as The second is on the growth of Sun Tv In the second volume, we investigate the ‘fourth estate’ needs to be seen in the context of

32 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 LIvING ‘indian media is part of the story’ FAMIlY reCIPes other changes taking place in the realm of three mutton medley other pillars of Indian democracy — the legislature, the executive and the judiciary — and the media’s Amit Dasgupta and wonderful on the palate. interaction with them. Vishakapatnam In the book, the examination of media coverage Ingredients is an attempt to highlight the changing role of the enjoy cooking, especially if it is for family and Good quality mutton: 1½ kg news media in India as the country travels through friends. When my daughter is in town, it’s a Onions: 2 large a transitioning period. Itreat cooking for her. And when she brought Garlic: 10 pods We use the neo-liberal framework where the gov - her fiancé along, it made the experience all the Ginger: 1-inch piece (ground to paste) ernment’s role is reduced to a regulator, whereas the more enjoyable. Tomatoes: 6 red ones role of private wealth, individual liberties and mar - My cooking experience started a long time ago. Cooking time: 20 minutes ket forces are being enlarged. The Indian news My mother was a wonderful cook and I recall my media and its role are impacted by the processes of father insisting that he would prepare breakfast for Method globalisation and liberalisation, the breakdown of the family, with egg preparations to boot. I was the Clean the goat meat, making sure to remove excess social and political institutions and the rise of indi - sous chef and the experience was a disaster. fat and small bones. Marinate with one-and-a- half vidualism in India. Contemporary Indian audi - Eggshells were strewn all over the kitchen floor teaspoons of turmeric and some salt. ences make a conscious choice to consume certain and found their way into the omlette. Ma was heat oil in a pressure cooker. When hot, add kinds of media messages, and increasingly partici - amused and Baba was, if I might put it this way, meat bit by bit, stirring and turning to allow meat

pate in their dissemination via their social media somewhat shell-shocked. he AMiT DAsGUPTA networks. The media often ends up chasing these never cooked again. audiences to survive in a competitive market. I landed up in Montreal, where I was a student at Regulation of the media has been advocated. But McGill University for a cou - is the problem one of ownership? ple of years. My roommates We think it is a rather simplistic argument, divest - were outstanding cooks and ing the readers and audiences of any responsibility. dinner was invariably delec - After all, the ‘liberal model of the press’ expects the table pork chops or beef - market to regulate media content, where audiences steaks with mashed potatoes choose the right content to read, listen or watch. and sautéed mushrooms, however, we think the quality of media content is a washed down with some complex issue that needs to take into account a great corner-shop Canadian number of factors: owners, audiences and the gov - red wine. ernment regulatory framework. But, like all good Indians, after a few months of steaks People are also driving content via social media and chops, I missed turmeric as in the coverage of the Anna Hazare-led India and the scent of garam Against Corruption movement, as you point out. masala. And so, when we went out grocery shop - to seal and start browning. It will give out water Doesn’t social media make it difficult for journal - ping, as we did every Saturday morning, and I saw and you need all the water to dry out. Once the ists to be observers? turmeric and Indian spices being sold at a South meat has uniformly browned, add the sliced Usha: The social media as a platform is part of the Asian store, I bravely offered to prepare ‘an Indian onions, mix well and allow onions to sweat. Add conversations taking place in a society which meal’. the ginger-garlic paste and keep stirring, on high includes every shade of views and issues. Journalists It wasn’t the era of the Internet and I did not heat, so that meat does not stick to vessel. participate in this conversation as journalists and as have the benefit of google recipes. Nor indeed was Add 2 teaspoons of coriander powder, 1 tea - common citizens. It is no more difficult for journal - a reply to a letter by me to Ma by airmail likely to spoon of cumin powder, 2 teaspoons of garam ists to remain objective in everyday conversations reach me within the week, with a fail-safe recipe. masala and 2 teaspoons of Kashmiri chilly powder in social meeting places, than on social media plat - A bit intimidated, I bought a one-litre bottle of and allow it to coat the meat-onion mixture. Add forms. It is an individual journalist’s own standards Cutty Sark. We would, usually, have dinner by 6 sliced green chillies [to taste]. Keep stirring and and expectations which determine how far he or pm and I poured the first drink at around 5.45 pm add the tomatoes. Lower heat, cover and allow the she would be emotionally swayed by the conversa - and put the Tv on. With the favourite Tv pro - tomatoes to give out their juice. Open the lid and tions on various social media platforms. gramme [M.A.S.h] on, a glass of stiff Cutty Sark add salt to taste, two tablespoons of red wine vine - doing the rounds, I knew I was all set. I was cook - gar and enough water to just cover the meat. Put Is the Indian media giving the middle class the ing goat meat. the lid and pressure cook (five whistles). Let it cool content it really wants? Does ‘dumbed down’ con - I mixed every conceivable spice I could think of, so that the pressure lets off and the lid can be tent really sell? filled the vessel with water and cooked it off the opened. Taste to see if salt is okay and the meat is There are different kinds of people and the Indian bone. It was disastrous. But my roommates were cooked thoroughly. It should fall off the bone. middle class and youth are by themselves too vast friendly, lovely, polite and very Cutty Sark-ed. Allow excess water to evaporate. You should have a and diverse to be homogenous. Also, it is not clear Dinner was served at 10 pm. I recall that the vessel light but wonderful- looking gravy. what exactly is meant by ‘dumbed down’. was polished through and through. Finger- licking, Serve with freshly cut coriander leaves and white Commercialisation has indeed had an impact on someone slurred. The bottle was also very empty. rice. I prefer to squeeze a bit of lemon juice on the news media and, as has been detailed in the book, I swore to learn and bit by bit, cooking became a meat. led to many changes in the news process and pres - hobby — one, in fact, that I enjoy with great pas - As Julia Child put it, “Nothing is too much trou - entation. But there are newspapers and even televi - sion. And so, when my daughter came home and ble, if it turns out the way it should.” sion channels that continue to deal with serious brought along her fiancé, I tightened my apron, as I I can confirm that my daughter and her fiancé issues and present it devoid of frills, at the same time looked at the goat meat leg with a sense of affection. loved it. And my wife, who prefers vegetarian food, reserving some space and time for infotainment. n here’s a simple mutton curry that is easy to cook took a second helping. n

CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 33 LIvING

earthy soaps iN 2007, sanjay bapat, a biomedical engineer, and AJiT KRisHNA his wife, Vijaya, started a small enterprise in manu - facturing natural aromatherapy products. sanjay was working with Philips. On his trips to the Us he had noted a rising interest in natural products. Vijaya, a postgraduate in science, was then a jour - nalist with ANi. They gave up their jobs and began their new enterprise, which they named Floria Naturals. in just eight years Floria Naturals has flowered. it now manufactures a range of products: soaps, oils, face masks and shampoos. The soaps are refreshingly fra - grant and tailored for different seasons and skin conditions. you can buy Gardenia Green soap with khus or Aloe Cucumber soap, both ideal for summer. Then there is Neem- basil soap, soaps made with rose, honey, almond, lavender and more. Floria Naturals also offers natural oils. Their oil made of coconut milk is absorbed into skin instantly leaving it soft and fragrant. “we are expanding our product range to cow therapy products. we have invented a Panchagavya soap, soap made with cow’s milk and saffron, and cow’s CoNTACT: urine with sandalwood,” explains sanjay. 141, Virathan budruk, saphala (w), Dist Palghar 401102, Floria has been supplying soaps to iskcon since one and a half years. Maharashtra Email: [email protected] The company also exports to Japan, Africa, singapore and Germany. n website: www.florianaturals.com rugged baskets iN Delhi, Manipur is becoming famous for its baskets, mats, black pottery and tribal trinkets. several NGOs and trusts in imphal are helping collectives of artisans to mod - ernize their designs to attract urban consumers in north india. Among them is the Humanity Foundation and Trust in imphal. it has a network of craft collectives in different districts of the state. siddharth Keisham, coordina - tor, says the foundation seeks out international and national designers to create stylish, con - temporary products from natural material that can then be replicated by Manipuri artisans and crafts people. Humanity Foundation also micro-finances the artisans so that they can buy raw material. Marketing and export of finished products is done by the foundation. “we face a lot of logistical problems in moving our products from imphal to Delhi,” says Keisham. “Our transport expenses are high since we have to move our goods from remote hilly areas. The long, exhausting trip to Delhi really cuts into our modest profits.” but, he says, the journey is worth it. The mats, mattresses, baskets and eco-friendly furniture they produce sell in Delhi. “Good response by the pub - lic brings joy to our artisans and management groups. we should have melas devoted to products from the Northeast at least two or three times every year,” suggests Keisham. Humanity Foundation has a counter at Panthoibi Manipur Emporium in central Delhi so you know where to go if you want to buy their products. n

CoNTACT: babita Keisham (bobby), sales Manager. Phone: 9811472073 sales counter: Humanity Foundation, Panthoibi Manipur Emporium, Mezzanine Floor, C-7 baba Kharak singh Marg, New Delhi-110001.

34 CIVIL SOCIETY, APRIL 2015 Changing Lives

introducing tablets for better education

SST has started using tablets in schools to help children improve their learning levels. This has attracted many children coming to the schools.

S. Latha, a girl student studying in class 4 of Panchayat union primary school, Thirukkurungudi village, Tirunelveli district was irregular in attending school. Therefore she was not able to keep up with the rest of the students in class. After introduction of tablets, she enjoys coming to the school and uses tablet every day. She finds the school interesting. She is no longer a slow learner. She is one among the best students in the class.

SriNiVASAN SerViceS TruST (cSr Arm of TVS Motor company)

TVS MoTor coMPANY

Post box No. 4, Harita, Hosur, Tamil Nadu Pin: 635109 Ph: 04344-276780 Fax: 04344-276878 urL: www.tvsmotor.co.in RNI No.: DELENG/2003/11607 Postal Registration No.: DL(S)-01/3255/2015-17. Registered to Post without Pre-payment U(SE)-10/2015-17 at New Delhi PSO. Dates of Posting:3 & 4 of April. Date of Publishing:1st of every month.